Optimal Design of a Multifunctional Sandwich Panel With Foam Core: Lightweight Design for Flexural Stiffness and Acoustical Transmission Loss

The use of a soft material, such as foam, as core in a sandwich panel offers increased acoustical transmission loss at the expense of a decrease of flexural stiffness. A genetic algorithm is used to explore the possible trade‐off between mechanical and acoustical properties of foam core sandwich panels in a minimum weight design.