5.1 The determination of the creep rate provides information on the behavior of sandwich constructions under constant applied force. Creep is defined as deflection under constant force over a period of time beyond the initial deformation as a result of the application of the force. Deflection data obtained from this test method can be plotted against time, and a creep rate determined. By using standard specimen constructions and constant loading, the test method may also be used to evaluate creep behavior of sandwich panel core-to-facing adhesives.

5.2 This test method provides a standard method of obtaining flexure creep of sandwich constructions for quality control, acceptance specification testing, and research and development.

5.3 Factors that influence the sandwich construction creep response and shall therefore be reported include the following: facing material, core material, adhesive material, methods of material fabrication, facing stacking sequence and overall thickness, core geometry (cell size), core density, core thickness, adhesive thickness, specimen geometry, specimen preparation, specimen conditioning, environment of testing, specimen alignment, loading procedure, speed of testing, facing void content, adhesive void content, and facing volume percent reinforcement. Further, facing and core-to-facing strength and creep response may be different between precured/bonded and co-cured facesheets of the same material.