Y. Frostig et D. Peled, HIGH-ORDER BENDING OF PIECEWISE UNIFORM SANDWICH BEAMS WITH A TAPEREDTRANSITION ZONE AND A TRANSVERSELY FLEXIBLE CORE, Composite structures, 31(2), 1995, pp. 151-162
High-order bending of a piecewise uniform sandwich beam with a tapered
transition zone and a transversely flexible core is presented. The be
havior is described through the solutions of a uniform and a tapered s
andwich beam in the various regions, interconnected while fulfilling t
he boundary and the continuity conditions between the regions. The lon
gitudinal and the shear forces in the inclined skin of the tapered reg
ion yield concentrated forces at the point where the skin longitudinal
layout changes, thus leading to stress concentrations in the form of
high peeling and shear stresss at the interface between the skin and c
ore, and to high local bending moment in the skin. This stress concent
ration emerges whether the external loads are concentrated or distribu
ted and is an inherent part of the structure. However, the level of st
resses involved can be controlled through the appropriate design of th
e transition zone. The characteristic behavior in the transition zone
and the design parameters that affect the behavior, are studied throug
h a parametric analysis. The fields and the governing equations of a t
apered beam are presented, and the results of the parametric study in
terms of shear forces and bending moments in the lower skin and shear
and peeling stresses at the lower skin-core interfaces, are presented
and discussed.