• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.221-245
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• 2013

This paper presents an analytical solution to the thermomechanical bending analysis of functionally graded sandwich plates by using a new hyperbolic shear deformation theory in which the stretching effect is included. The modulus of elasticity of plates is assumed to vary according to a power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The core layer is still homogeneous and made of an isotropic ceramic material. The effects of functionally graded material (FGM) layer thickness, volume fraction index, layer thickness ratio, thickness ratio and aspect ratio on the deflections and stresses of functionally graded sandwich plates are investigated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.639-660
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• 2022

The bending and buckling behaviours of FG-GRNC laminated sandwich plates are investigated by using novel five-variables quasi 3D higher order shear deformation plate theory by considering the modified continuum nonlocal strain gradient theory. To calculate the effective Young's modulus of the GRNC sandwich plate along the thickness direction, and Poisson's ratio and mass density, the modified Halpin-Tsai model and the rule of the mixture are employed. Based on a new field of displacement, governing equilibrium equations of the GRNC sandwich plate are solved using a developed approach of Galerkin method. A detailed parametric analysis is carried out to highlight the influences of length scale and material scale parameters, GPLs distribution pattern, the weight fraction of GPLs, geometry and size of GPLs, the geometry of the sandwich plate and the total number of layers on the stresses, deformation and critical buckling loads. Some details are studied exclusively for the first time, such as stresses and the nonlocality effect.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2014

PURPOSES : The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate to the practicing engineers, how to apply the advanced composite materials theory to the road structures. For general construction material used, there is certain theoretical limit in sizes. For super road structure construction, the reduction in panel weight is the first step to take in order to break such size limits. METHODS : For a typical road structures panel, both concrete and advanced composite sandwich panels are considered. The concrete panel is treated as a special orthotropic plate. RESULTS : All types of advanced composite sandwich panels are considered as a self-weights less than one tenth of that of concrete panel. The concrete panel is treated as a special orthotropic plate to obtain more accurate result. CONCLUSIONS : Advanced composite sandwich panels are considered as a self-weights less than one tenth (10%) of that of concrete panel, with deflections less than that of the concrete panel. This conclusion gives good guide line for design of the light weight of road structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.523-536
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• 2017

A layerwise (LW) formulation based on the Galerkin method is presented to investigate the three-dimensional stress state in long sandwich plate which is subjected to tension force and pure bending moment. Based on the Galerkin method and the LW discretization approach, the equilibrium equations of elasticity for the long plate are written in the weak form and discretized through the thickness of the plate. The discretized equations are written in terms of displacement components of the numerical layers. The governing equations of the plate are solved analytically for the free edge boundary conditions. The distribution of stress state especially the 3D stress state in the vicinity of the edges of the sandwich plate which is subjected to tension and pure bending is studied. In order to increase the accuracy, the out of plane stresses are obtained by integrating the equilibrium equations of elasticity. The convergence and accuracy of the predictions are studied and various numerical results are presented for distribution of the in-plane and out of plane stresses in symmetric and un-symmetric sandwich plates.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.275-290
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• 2018

The hygrothermal stresses in sandwich plate with composite faces due to through the thickness gradient temperature and (or) moisture content are investigated. The layer-wise theory is employed for formulation of the problem. The formulation is derived for sandwich plate with general layer stacking, subjected to uniform and non-uniform temperature and moisture content through the thickness of the plate. The governing equations are solved for free edge conditions and 3D stresses are investigated. The out of plane stresses are obtained by equilibrium equations of elasticity and by the constitutive law and the results for especial case are compared with the predictions of a 3D finite element solution in order to study the accuracy of results. The three-dimensional stresses especially the free edge effect on the distribution of the stresses is studied in various sandwich plates and the effect of uniform and non-uniform thermal and hygroscopic loading is investigated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.831-837
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• 2022

Numerical investigation on dynamic characteristics of sandwich plates under periodic and thermal loads has been presented by assuming that the plate has three layers which are a foam core and two skins. The foam core made of Aluminum has porosities with uniform and graded dispersions. The sandwich plate has been supposed to be affected by periodical compressive loads. Also, temperature variation causes uniform thermal load. The formulation has been established based upon a higher-order plate theory and Ritz method has been used to solve the equations of motion. The stability boundaries have also been obtained performing Bolotin's method. It will be indicated that stability boundaries of the sandwich plate depend on periodical load parameters, porosities, skin thickness and temperature.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.557-572
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• 2018

In this paper, a refined higher-order shear deformation theory including the stretching effect is developed for the analysis of bending analysis of the simply supported functionally graded (FG) sandwich plates resting on elastic foundation. This theory has only five unknowns, which is even less than the other shear and normal deformation theories. The theory presented is variationally consistent, without the shear correction factor. The present one has a new displacement field which introduces undetermined integral variables. Equations of motion are obtained by utilizing the Hamilton's principles and solved via Navier's procedure. The convergence and the validation of the proposed theoretical numerical model are performed to demonstrate the efficacy of the model.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.782-794
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• 2006

Classical finite element programs are not well suited to the design of composite structures, because they are primarily analysis tools and need much time for the data input and as well as for the interpretation of the results. The aim of this paper is to develop a program which allows very fast analyses and reanalyses for design process, thanks to a fast reanalysis method with changes of data and conditions. Speed in the analysis Is obtained by simplification of the analysed structure and limitations in its geometrical generality and improvements in numerical methods. The use of the program is made easy with interactive user-friendly facilities.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.65-79
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• 2022

The main goal of this paper is to study the vibration of damaged core laminated annular plates with FG face sheets based on a three-dimensional theory of elasticity. The structures are made of a damaged isotropic core and two external face sheets. These skins are strengthened at the nanoscale level by randomly oriented Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and are reinforced at the microscale stage by oriented straight fibers. These reinforcing phases are included in a polymer matrix and a three-phase approach based on the Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka scheme and on the Halpin-Tsai approach, which is developed to compute the overall mechanical properties of the composite material. In this study the effect of microcracks on the vibrational characteristic of the sandwich plate is considered. In particular, the structures are made by an isotropic core that undergoes a progressive uniform damage, which is modeled as a decay of the mechanical properties expressed in terms of engineering constants. These defects are uniformly distributed and affect the central layer of the plates independently from the direction, this phenomenon is known as "isotropic damage" and it is fully described by a scalar parameter. Three complicated equations of motion for the sectorial plates under consideration are semi-analytically solved by using 2-D differential quadrature method. Using the 2-D differential quadrature method in the r- and z-directions, allows one to deal with sandwich annular plate with arbitrary thickness distribution of material properties and also to implement the effects of different boundary conditions of the structure efficiently and in an exact manner. The fast rate of convergence and accuracy of the method are investigated through the different solved examples. The sandwich annular plate is assumed to have any arbitrary boundary conditions at the circular edges including simply supported, clamped and, free. Several parametric analyses are carried out to investigate the mechanical behavior of these multi-layered structures depending on the damage features, through-the-thickness distribution, and boundary conditions.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.159-177
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• 2023

In the present work, a simple and refined shear deformation theory is used to analyze the effect of visco-elastic foundation on the buckling response of exponentially-gradient sandwich plates under various boundary conditions. The proposed theory includes indeterminate integral variables kinematic with only four generalized parameters, in which no shear correction factor is used. The visco-Pasternak's foundation is taken into account by adding the influence of damping to the usual foundation model which characterized by the linear Winkler's modulus and Pasternak's foundation modulus. The four governing equations for FGM sandwich plates are derived by employing principle of virtual work. To solve the buckling problem, Galerkin's approach is utilized for FGM sandwich plates for various boundary conditions. The analytical solutions for critical buckling loads of several types of powerly graded sandwich plates resting on visco-Pasternak foundations under various boundary conditions are presented. Some numerical results are presented to indicate the effects of inhomogeneity parameter, elastic foundation type, and damping coefficient of the foundation, on the critical buckling loads.