Finite element buckling analysis of laminated composite sandwich panels with transversely flexible core carrying attached elastic strip

Abstract

In this article, a three-dimensional finite element model is proposed to study the effect of distributed attached mass with thickness and stiffness on the buckling instability of sandwich panels with transversely flexible cores. Unlike the previous works in the literature which have made use of unified displacement theories, the present model uses different types of finite elements to model the core and the face sheets. It utilizes shell elements for the face sheets and three-dimensional solid elements for the core which enables the model to account for the transverse flexibility of the structure. The motions of the face sheets and the core as well as the attached mass are related through defining constraint equations between the nodes of their respective finite elements based on the concept of master and slave nodes which is incorporated into the finite element analysis program ANSYS through a user-defined subroutine. The validated finite element model is then used to study the effects of size, thickness, material property, aspect ratio, and the position of the attached mass on the buckling load of a sandwich panel under different combinations of boundary conditions. The results presented in this study have hitherto not been reported in the literature.