Small and large deflection of clamped skew sandwich plates.

Abstract

The problem of the small and large deflection behaviour of skew sandwich plates with built-in edges and subjected to a uniformly distributed load is investigated. Non-linear partial differential equations governing the load-displacement relationship for such plates are derived using the principle of minimum potential energy. In the derivation of these equations, the effects of transverse shear deformation, curvature and elastic anisotropy on the deflection of the plates have all been taken into account. These equations have been linearized and solved numerically by means of the small parameter perturbation technique in conjunction with successive approximations. A computer programme coded in Fortran is written for the IBM 360/65. Clamped skew sandwich plates, with any arbitrary geometric dimension and material properties of the core and skins, can be solved by this programme. From the present study, it has been found that the high order strain terms from the strain-displacement relationship play an important role in the load-deflection characteristic for sandwich panels whose core is relatively soft and thick in comparison with the facings. It is also noted that the high order approximation become increasingly important as the angle of skew increases.