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The nonlinear analysis of a
curved sandwich panel with a compliant core subjected to a thermal field and
mechanical load is presented. The mathematical formulation is developed first, along
with the solution of the stress and displacement fields for the case of a sandwich core
with mechanical properties that are independent of the temperature. The nonlinear
analysis includes geometrical nonlinearities in the face sheets caused by rotation of
the face cross sections and high-order effects due to the transversely flexible core.
The mathematical formulation uses the variational principle of minimum
energy along with HSAPT (high-order sandwich panel theory) to derive the
nonlinear field equations and the boundary conditions. The full displacement and
stress fields of the core with uniform temperature-independent mechanical
properties and the appropriate governing equations of the sandwich panel are
given.
This is followed by the general solution of the core stress and displacement fields
when the mechanical core properties are dependent on the radial (through-the-thickness)
coordinate. The displacement fields of a core with temperature-dependent mechanical
properties are determined explicitly using an equivalent polynomial description of the
varying properties.
A numerical study then describes the nonlinear response of curved sandwich
panels subjected to concentrated and distributed mechanical loads, thermally induced
deformations, and simultaneous thermal and mechanical loads where the
mechanical load is below the limit load level of the mechanical response and
the imposed temperature field is made to vary. The results reveal that the
thermomechanical response is linear when the sandwich panel is heated,
but becomes nonlinear with limit point behavior when the panel is cooled
down.
Professor, Ashtrom Engineering
Company Chair in Civil Engineering Technion - Israel Institute
of Technology
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Haifa, 32000
Israel