A honeycomb panel is a sandwich: a stainless face, an aluminium core, and a back skin, bonded into one sheet. The point is stiffness at a weight that can be lifted by hand.
Grades quoted are 304 and 316L; other grades are sourced to order and named in the quote. Cut and finished in our own factory in Foshan.
Three layers bonded into one sheet: a stainless face, an aluminium honeycomb core, and a back skin. Nothing in the middle is solid, and that is the entire point.
A honeycomb panel is a sandwich. The two faces carry the load and the core holds them apart, so a 20 mm panel is close to as stiff as a 20 mm solid plate at roughly a twentieth of the weight. It is the same principle as an aircraft floor, applied to a wall.
This page is about the composite panel as a finished building product, not about loose honeycomb core. If you need core on its own, we do not sell it that way.
| Property | Figure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Face skin | 0.8–1.5 mm | 304 or 316L; the face is what you see and touch |
| Core | Aluminium honeycomb | Cell 6 / 10 / 12 mm by wall thickness |
| Back skin | 0.8–1.0 mm | Same grade as the face unless specified otherwise |
| Total thickness | 6–25 mm | Set by the span, not by appearance |
| Panel size | Up to 1500 × 4000 mm | Above this the bond line sees too much handle stress |
| Flatness | ±1.5 mm / 2 m | Measured on the finished panel, not on the face before bonding |
| Bond | Full-face adhesive | Not spot-bonded; a spot bond telegraphs through the face |
| Weight, 20 mm | ≈ 9 kg/m² | Against ≈ 157 kg/m² for 20 mm solid 304 |
| Edge | Closed or open | Closed for handling; open where the section is meant to read |
Face and core are bonded full-face and pressed under controlled temperature, and the batch is recorded.
If skippedThe panel looks correct on the bench and delaminates along one edge eighteen months later, in a lobby, above people.
We check the finished panel at ±1.5 mm over 2 m, not the face sheet before it goes into the press.
If skippedA face that measured flat is pulled out of shape by core that was not uniform, and the wall reads as wavy under grazing light.
Closed edges are folded and bonded; open edges are set out so the cut core reads as a deliberate section.
If skippedThe edge is improvised on site, the core is exposed unprotected, and water gets into the cells.
Where the back is visible — a free-standing screen, an open soffit — it gets the same grade and finish.
If skippedOne side is specified and the other is whatever was in stock, in a place where both sides are seen.
We size the panel and the fixing together, because a light panel needs a lighter substructure too.
If skippedThe panel is light and the frame behind it is still built for solid plate, so the saving disappears.
A honeycomb panel solves a weight or a span problem. If there is no weight or span problem, a solid panel is simpler, cheaper and has fewer things that can go wrong.
| Application | Why honeycomb suits it | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Lift car walls and doors | Weight cut from the car raises the rated load and lowers motor duty | The lift maker's tolerance owns the edge detail |
| Cladding on a light or framed facade | Panel weight drives the substructure cost | Fixing must be designed for the panel, not inherited |
| Large ceiling and soffit panels | Spans further between hangers, flatter over long runs | Open edges need closing before the panel goes up |
| Free-standing screens and partitions | Both faces presentable, and one person can move it | Acoustic claim needs a test, not an assumption |
| Feature walls in a public lobby | Flat over 4 m, which solid 1.2 mm sheet is not | Damage repair means replacing the panel, not filling it |
| Not for | Cutting on site, or where the edge will be flooded | An exposed open core absorbs water and the panel is scrap |
Seven steps, and the two that are usually skipped by a trading company are step 03 (the press) and step 06 (the trial fit).
| Step | What happens | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Face and back sheets cut and finished before bonding | Flat sheets, finish inspected |
| 02 | Core cut and expanded to the cell size in the drawing | Core blocks, cell measured |
| 03 | Full-face adhesive applied, panel stacked and pressed | Panel, bond line continuous |
| 04 | Edge closing: folded, bonded, or left open by design | Edge detail as drawn |
| 05 | Trim to final size and check flatness over 2 m | Finished panel at ±1.5 mm |
| 06 | Trial fit against the frame drawing before packing | Corner photographs and a fit record |
| 07 | Crated flat, face protected, edges supported | Panel that arrives as it left |
The same sheet is sold under a dozen names, and buyers search all of them. This is the list we work from, and none of these are a different product.
| Name you may use | What it means here |
|---|---|
| honeycomb panels / honeycomb panel | The finished composite, any build-up |
| honeycomb board / honeycomb plate | The same, usually when the panel is thick and used flat |
| honeycomb sheet / honeycomb sheets | The same, usually when the panel is thin |
| honeycomb sandwich panel / honeycomb sandwich panels | The same; 'sandwich' is the engineering term for the build-up |
| honeycomb composite panels / composite panels | The same, usually when the face is not metal |
| composite honeycomb panels / composite honeycomb panel / composite honeycomb | The same, with the words in the other order; buyers write it both ways |
| honeycomb composite sheet / honeycomb composite material | The same, described by sheet or by material |
| metal honeycomb / honeycomb metal / honeycomb metal panel / honeycomb metal sheet | A panel where the face is metal; our entire range |
| honeycomb steel / honeycomb steel sheet / honeycomb sheet metal | A steel-faced panel; stainless is what we make |
| honeycomb core panel / honeycomb core panels / honeycomb cores | Ambiguous: it can mean the bare core, or a finished panel. Ask which |
| honeycomb structural / honeycomb structural panels | Panels specified to carry load, not just to cover a wall |
| honeycomb material / honeycomb composite material / composite honeycomb | A general enquiry; send the drawing and we will narrow it |
| honeycomb paneling / honeycomb panel / metallic honeycomb | Trade shorthand, same product |
| 4x8 honeycomb panels | 1220 × 2440 mm; we cut to your size rather than sell nominal sheets |
| lightweight honeycomb panels | Emphasis on weight saving, which is the reason the product exists |
| honeycomb ceiling panels | Ceiling build-up; the edge and the fixing change, the panel does not |
| honeycomb wall panels | Wall build-up; usually a closed edge and a concealed fixing |
| honeycomb sliding / folding screen door | A door product, not a panel. We do not make these |
Grade and finish are a specification. Whether two panels meet cleanly, in one colour, with no cutting on site, is the job.