• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.119-132
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• 2020

In this study a new innovative three unknowns trigonometric shear deformation theory is proposed for the buckling and vibration responses of exponentially graded sandwich plates resting on elastic mediums under various boundary conditions. The key feature of this theoretical formulation is that, in addition to considering shear deformation effect, it has only three unknowns in the displacement field as in the case of the classical plate theory (CPT), contrary to five as in the first shear deformation theory (FSDT) and higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). Material characteristics of the sandwich plate faces are considered to vary within the thickness direction via an exponential law distribution as a function of the volume fractions of the constituents. Equations of motion are obtained by employing Hamilton's principle. Numerical results for buckling and free vibration analysis of exponentially graded sandwich plates under various boundary conditions are obtained and discussed. Verification studies confirmed that the present three -unknown shear deformation theory is comparable with higher-order shear deformation theories which contain a greater number of unknowns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.873-886
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• 2021

In this paper, an analytical solution for thermodynamic response of functionally graded (FG) sandwich plates resting on variable elastic foundation is performed by using a quasi 3D shear deformation plate theory. The displacement field used in the present study contains undetermined integral terms and involves only four unknown functions with including stretching effect. The FG sandwich plate is considered to be subject to a time harmonic sinusoidal temperature field across its thickness with any combined boundary conditions. Equations of motion are derived from Hamilton's principle. The numerical results are compared with the existing results of quasi-3D shear deformation theories and an excellent agreement is observed. Several numerical examples for fundamental frequency, deflection, stress and variable elastic foundation parameter's analysis of FG sandwich plates are presented and discussed considering different material gradients, layer thickness ratios, thickness-to-length ratios and boundary conditions. The results of the present study reveal that the nature of the elastic foundation, the boundary conditions and the thermodynamic loading affect the response of the FG plate especially in the case of a thick plate.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.399-423
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• 2013

In the present study, the thermal buckling behavior of functionally graded sandwich plates is studied using a new hyperbolic displacement model. Unlike any other theory, the theory is variationally consistent and gives four governing equations. Number of unknown functions involved in displacement field is only four, as against five in case of other shear deformation theories. This present model takes into account the parabolic distribution of transverse shear stresses and satisfies the condition of zero shear stresses on the top and bottom surfaces without using shear correction factor. Material properties and thermal expansion coefficient of the sandwich plate faces are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The core layer is still homogeneous and made of an isotropic material. The thermal loads are assumed as uniform, linear and non-linear temperature rises across the thickness direction. The results reveal that the volume fraction index, loading type and functionally graded layers thickness have significant influence on the thermal buckling of functionally graded sandwich plates.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.72 no.5
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• pp.653-673
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• 2019

This work investigates a novel quasi-3D hyperbolic shear deformation theory is presented to discuss the buckling of new type of sandwich plates. This theory accounts for both shear deformation and thickness stretching effects by a hyperbolic variation of all displacements through the thickness. The enhancement of this formulation is due to the use of only five unknowns by including undetermined integral terms, contrary to other theories where we find six or more unknowns. It does not require shear correction factors and transverse shear stresses vary parabolically across the thickness. A new type of FGM sandwich plates, namely, both FGM face sheets and FGM hard core are considered. The governing equations and boundary conditions are derived using the principle of virtual displacements. Analytical solutions are obtained for a simply supported plate. The accuracy of the present theory is verified by comparing the obtained results with quasi-3D solutions and those predicted by higher-order shear deformation theories. The comparison studies show that the obtained results are not only more accurate than those obtained by higher-order shear deformation theories, but also comparable with those predicted by quasi-3D theories with a greater number of unknowns.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.15-34
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• 2012

In the present paper, an improved high-order theory is used for bending analysis of soft-core sandwich plates. Third-order plate assumptions are used for face sheets and quadratic and cubic functions are assumed for transverse and in-plane displacements of the orthotropic soft core. Continuity conditions for transverse shear stresses at the interfaces as well as the conditions of zero transverse shear stresses on the upper and lower surfaces of the plate are satisfied. Also, transverse flexibility and transverse normal strain and stress of the orthotropic core are considered. The equations of motion and boundary conditions are derived by principle of minimum potential energy. Analytical solution for bending analysis of simply supported sandwich plates under various transverse loads are presented using Navier's solution. Comparison of the present results with those of the three-dimensional theory of elasticity and some plate theories in the literature confirms the accuracy of the proposed theory.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.975-999
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• 2016

This work investigates a thermomechanical bending analysis of functionally graded sandwich plates by proposing a novel quasi-3D type higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT). The mathematical model introduces only 5 variables as the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). Unlike the conventional HSDT, the present one presents a novel displacement field which includes undetermined integral variables. The mechanical properties of functionally graded layers of the plate are supposed to change in the thickness direction according to a power law distribution. The core layer is still homogeneous and made of an isotropic ceramic material. The governing equations for the thermomechanical bending investigation are obtained through the principle of virtual work and solved via Navier-type method. Interesting results are determined and compared with quasi-3D and 2D HSDTs. The influences of functionally graded material (FGM) layer thickness, power law index, layer thickness ratio, thickness ratio and aspect ratio on the deflections and stresses of functionally graded sandwich plates are discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.783-794
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• 2020

Steel-concrete-steel sandwich composite wall is composed of two external steel plates and infilled concrete core. Internal mechanical connectors are used to enhance the composite action between the two materials. In this paper, the compressive behavior of a novel sandwich composite wall was studied. The steel trusses were applied to connect the steel plates to the concrete core. Three short specimens with different truss spacings were tested under compressive loading. The boundary columns were not included. It was found that the failure of walls started from the buckling of steel plates and followed by the crushing of concrete. Global instability was not observed. It was also observed that the truss spacing has great influence on ultimate strength, buckling stress, ductility, strength index, lateral deflection, and strain distribution. Three modern codes were introduced to calculate the capacity of walls. The comparisons between test results and code predictions show that AISC 360 provides significant underestimations while Eurocode 4 and CECS 159 offer overestimated predictions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.663-679
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• 2019

In this work, a simple four-variable trigonometric shear deformation model with undetermined integral terms to consider the influences of transverse shear deformation is applied for the dynamic analysis of anti-symmetric laminated composite and soft core sandwich plates. Unlike the existing higher order theories, the current one contains only four unknowns. The equations of motion are obtained using the principle of virtual work. The analytical solution is determined by solving the eigenvalue problem. The influences of geometric ratio, modular ratio and fibre angle are critically evaluated for different problems of laminated composite and sandwich plates. The eigenfrequencies obtained using the current theory are verified by comparing the results with those of other theories and with the exact elasticity solution, if any.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.10 no.1 s.34
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• pp.11-24
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• 1998

The composite sandwich plate is constructed by combining two laminated facings with high strength and a thick core of light weight material. The governing equations for the analysis of bending of simply supported sandwich plates with laminated facings are derived and analysed using the analytical method including the local shear deformations. The accuracy of the approach is ascertained by comparing solutions from the sandwich plate theory with composite facings to the laminate plate theory. Since the present analysis considers the bending stiffness of the core and also the transverse shear deformations of the laminated facings, it is expected that the analysis is capable to analyze the general anisotropic laminated plates with global shear deformations.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.127-139
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• 2017

In this paper, an exact analytical solution for simply supported sandwich plate which considers the permeation effect of adhesives is presented. The permeation layer is described as functionally graded material (FGM), the elastic modulus of which is assumed to be graded along the thickness following the exponential law. Based on the exact three-dimensional (3-D) elasticity theory, the solution of stresses and displacements for each layer is derived. By means of the recursive matrix method, the solution can be efficiently obtained for plates with many layers. The present solution obtained can be used as a benchmark to access other simplified solutions. The comparison study indicates that the finite element (FE) solution is close to the present one when the FGM layer in the FE model is divided into a series of homogeneous layers. However, the present method is more efficient than the FE method, with which the mesh division and computation are time-consuming. Moreover, the solution based on Kirchhoff-Love plate theory is greatly different from the present solution for thick plates. The influence of the thickness of the permeation layer on the stress and displacement fields of the sandwich plate is discussed in detail. It is indicated that the permeation layer can effectively relieve the discontinuity stress at the interface.