Development of super convergent Euler finite elements for the analysis of sandwich beams with soft core

Abstract

Sandwich structures are well known for their use in aircraft, naval and automobile industries due to their high strength resistance with light weight and high energy absorption capability. Sandwich beams with soft core are very common and simple structures that are employed in day to day general use appliances. Modeling and analysis of sandwich structures is not straight forward due to the interactions between core and face sheets. In this paper, formulation of Super Convergent finite elements for analysis of the sandwich beams with soft core based on Euler Bernoulli beam theory are presented. Two elements, Eul4d with 4 degrees of freedom assuming rigid core in transverse direction and Eul10d with 10 degrees of freedom assuming the flexible core were developed are presented. The formulation considers the top, bottom face sheets and core as separate entities and are coupled by beam kinematics. The performance of these elements are validated by results available in the published literature. Number of studies are performed using the formulated elements in static, free vibration and wave propagation analysis involving various boundary and loading conditions. The paper highlights the advantages of the elements developed over the traditional elements for modeling of sandwich beams and, in particular wave propagation analysis.