GALERKIN PROJECTION FOR GEOMETRICALLY EXACT SANDWICH BEAMS ALLOWING FOR PLY DROP-OFF

A Galerkin projection of the equations of equilibrium for a recent the ory of geometrically exact sandwich beams that allow finite rotations and shear deformation in each layer is presented. The continuity of th e displacement across the layers is exactly satisfied. The resulting f inite element formulation can accommodate large deformation, The numbe r of layers is variable, with layer lengths and thicknesses not requir ed to be the same, thus allowing the modeling of sandwich structures w ith ply drop-off Numerical examples are presented which underline the salient features of the formulation. Saint-Venant principle is demonst rated for very short sandwich beams.