A study of bending of sandwich cantilever beams under various types of loading.

Abstract

A theoretical solution for the transverse and axial deformations of sandwich cantilever beams, due to various types of loading has been presented here. This is obtained by the use of Finite Element Method. The use of these deflections in the fundamental equations for sandwiches, yields the stress and strain states. The boundary conditions for this problem are derived from the total potential energy by the variational principle. Results for the transverse deformation under uniform transverse loading are compared with experimental results. Photoelastic technique has been used for experimental investigations. Method of shear differences is employed to separate the principal stresses. This technique provides the normal stresses in the face sheets and shear stresses in the core. The basic assumptions involved in the theory of sandwich materials are finally checked against the experimental results.