Theory of cylindrical sandwich shells with dissimilar facings subjected tothermomechanical loads

A theory is outlined of sandwich box-type composite shells designed to with stand a combination of thermal loading, internal pressure, torsional and ax ial Loads. A cross section of the shell represents a rectangular box with c urved cylindrical sections at the corners. The facings of the shell are dis similar to maximize their efficiency, according to the loads acting on each facing. This approach enables a designer to optimize the structure by maxi mizing the load-carrying capacity or minimizing the weight. The formulation includes-the following developments: 1) global theory of a sandwich shell composed of rectangular and cylindrical sections, where equations of motion are formulated based on a first-order shear deformable version of Sanders' s shell theory; 2) theory for local deformations and stresses in the facing s, where the facing is treated as a thin geometrically nonlinear plate or s hell on an elastic foundation using von Karman's approach and the elastic f oundation represents a support-provided by the opposite facing and the core ; and 3) an outline of an enhanced micromechanical constitutive formulation based on the incorporation of the effect of the thermomechanical coupling on the material properties and temperature.