Open cellular sandwich structure including embedded fasteners
A sandwich structure including at least one fastener attached to a first facesheet, an ordered three-dimensional microstructure core defined by a series of interconnected polymer waveguides around the at least one fastener and attached to the first facesheet, and a second facesheet attached to the ordered three-dimensional microstructure core. The ordered three-dimensional microstructure core is sandwiched between the first facesheet and the second facesheet.
1. A sandwich structure, comprising:
at least one fastener attached to a first facesheet;
an open cellular ordered three-dimensional lattice microstructure core defined by a plurality of interconnected optically polymerized polymer waveguides around the at least one fastener and attached to the first facesheet; and
a second facesheet attached to the open cellular ordered three-dimensional lattice microstructure core, wherein the open cellular ordered three-dimensional lattice microstructure core is sandwiched between the first facesheet and the second facesheet.
2. The sandwich structure of claim 1 , wherein the open cellular ordered three-dimensional lattice microstructure core has a first region defined by a first density of interconnected optically polymerized polymer waveguides surrounding the at least one fastener and a second region defined by a second density of interconnected optically polymerized polymer waveguides.
3. The sandwich structure of claim 1 , wherein the open cellular ordered three-dimensional lattice microstructure core is coupled to the at least one fastener.
4. The sandwich structure of claim 1 , wherein the at least one fastener is an externally threaded stud.
5. The sandwich structure of claim 4 , wherein the open cellular ordered three-dimensional lattice microstructure core is separated from the externally threaded stud by a void around the externally threaded stud.
6. The sandwich structure of claim 1 , wherein the at least one fastener is an internally threaded insert.
7. The sandwich structure of claim 1 , wherein the first facesheet comprises at least one first aperture aligned with the at least one fastener.
8. The sandwich structure of claim 7 , wherein the second facesheet comprises at least one second aperture aligned with the at least one fastener.
9. A sandwich structure, comprising:
at least one fastener attached to a first facesheet;
an ordered three-dimensional microstructure core defined by a plurality of interconnected polymer waveguides around the at least one fastener and attached to the first facesheet; and
a second facesheet attached to the ordered three-dimensional microstructure core, wherein the ordered three-dimensional microstructure core is sandwiched between the first facesheet and the second facesheet, and
wherein the three-dimensional microstructure core has a first region defined by a first angular orientation of interconnected polymer optical waveguides surrounding the at least one fastener and a second region defined by a second angular orientation of interconnected polymer optical waveguides different than the first angular orientation.