JunoPanel Designer™ — How it works & limitations
The JunoPanel Designer™ estimates stiffness and strength of sandwich panels in lightweight applications. It uses classical sandwich beam theory for preliminary design and quick material comparisons.
What it does
- Estimates deflection and major failure modes (face stress, core shear, core crush, face wrinkling).
- Shows pass/fail margins based on safety factor and deflection limits.
- Calculates approximate areal and total weight.
Principles used
| Mode | Calculation basis | Reference theory |
|---|---|---|
| Deflection | Bending + shear deformation combined | Timoshenko beam theory |
| Face stress | σ = Mz/I | Euler–Bernoulli |
| Core shear | τ = V/(b tc) | Timoshenko shear |
| Core crush | σ = P/A | Sandwich handbooks |
| Face wrinkling | σwr = k√(EfEc)(tf/tc) (k≈0.6) | Allen (1969), NASA SP-8007 |
Benefits
- Rapid early-stage design feedback
- Material trade-off comparisons
- Educational visualization of panel behaviour
Limitations
- One-way simply supported bending only – no 2D plate effects.
- Linear-elastic model – no damage, delamination, or impact.
- Results are indicative and must be checked by an engineer.
Further reading
- Allen (1969) – Analysis and Design of Structural Sandwich Panels
- Plantema (1966) – Sandwich Construction
- NASA SP-8007 (1968) – Buckling of Sandwich Panels
- Zenkert (1995) – An Introduction to Sandwich Construction