Modal characteristics of a sustainable sandwich structure with cork stopper cores.

• An eco-friendly and low-cost sustainable sandwich structure with cork stopper cores is proposed. • Natural frequencies of the sustainable sandwich panel are theoretically predicted. • Effect of the cork stopper geometric parameters on modal performance is comprehensively addressed. • Influence of packing configuration of cork stoppers on dynamic behaviors is determined. Cork is a natural sustainable material, which is widely used for wine bottle stopper. This paper proposes an environment-friendly and low-cost sandwich concept consisting of cork stoppers and aluminum covering skins for a novel building material solution. A set of prototypes with natural and agglomerated cork stopper cores are fabricated respectively. Modal tests are carried out to address the effect of arrangement orientations in the cores on natural frequencies. Besides, theoretical and finite element analysis are conducted to determine vibration behaviors of the sustainable sandwich structures. The results show that the natural frequencies of the sustainable sandwich panels are highly affected by the parent materials and packing configurations. Furthermore, the effects of cork stopper core dimensions on the vibration performance are determined by a parametric study, providing comprehensive information for sustainable building structure development and waste management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]