US Patent 12005686 Core material for composite structures

A unitary core panel for a composite sandwich structure includes a plurality of cell walls defining a plurality of core cells, the plurality of cell walls extending across a thickness of the core, the plurality of core cells including one or more defined structural nonuniformities resulting in nonuniform properties of the core panel. A method of forming a core panel for a composite sandwich structure includes determining structural requirements of the core panel, designing the core panel to satisfy the structural requirements with one or more local nonuniformities in the core panel, and manufacturing the core panel as a unitary core panel with the one or more local nonuniformities.