Sandwich theory[1] [2] describes the behaviour of a beam, plate, or shell which consists of three layers—two facesheets and one core. The most commonly used sandwich theory is linear and is an extension of first-order beam theory. The linear sandwich theory is of importance for the design and analysis of sandwich panels, which are of use in building construction, vehicle construction, airplane construction and refrigeration engineering.
Some advantages of sandwich construction are:
The behavior of a beam with sandwich cross-section under a load differs from a beam with a constant elastic cross section. If the radius of curvature during bending is large compared to the thickness of the sandwich beam and the strains in the component materials are small, the deformation of a sandwich composite beam can be separated into two parts
Sandwich beam, plate, and shell theories usually assume that the reference stress state is one of zero stress. However, during curing, differences of temperature between the facesheets persist because of the thermal separation by the core material. These temperature differences, coupled with different linear expansions of the facesheets, can lead to a bending of the sandwich beam in the direction of the warmer facesheet. If the bending is constrained during the manufacturing process, residual stresses can develop in the components of a sandwich composite. The superposition of a reference stress state on the solutions provided by sandwich theory is possible when the problem is linear. However, when large elastic deformations and rotations are expected, the initial stress state has to be incorporated directly into the sandwich theory.
In the engineering theory of sandwich beams,[2] the axial strain is assumed to vary linearly over the cross-section of the beam as in Euler-Bernoulli theory, i.e.,
\varepsilonxx(x,z)=-z~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}
\sigmaxx(x,z)=-z~E(z)~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}
E(z)
Mx(x)=\int\intz~\sigmaxx~dzdy=-\left(\int\intz2E(z)~dzdy\right)~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}=:-D~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}
D
Qx
Qx=
dMx | |
dx |
~.
Using these relations, we can show that the stresses in a sandwich beam with a core of thickness
2h
Ec
f
Ef
For a sandwich beam with identical facesheets and unit width, the value of}\left[(h+f)^2-z^2\right] ~;~~ & \tau_^ & = \cfrac\left[E^{\mathrm{c}}\left(h^2-z^2\right) + E^{\mathrm{f}} f(f+2h)\right] \end\begin{align}
f \sigma xx &=\cfrac{zEfMx}{D}~;~~&
c \sigma xx &=\cfrac{zEcMx}{D}\\
f \tau xz &=\cfrac{QxEf
D
\begin{align} D&=
f\int | |
E | |
w\int |
-h | |
-h-f |
z2~dzdy+
c\int | |
E | |
w\int |
h | |
-h |
z2~dzdy+
f\int | |
E | |
w\int |
h+f | |
h |
z2~dzdy\\ &=
2 | |
3 |
Eff3+
2 | |
3 |
Ech3+2Effh(f+h)~. \end{align}
Ef\ggEc
D
D ≈
2 | |
3 |
Eff3+2Effh(f+h)=
| ||||
2fE |
f2+h(f+h)\right)
\begin{align}
f | |
\sigma | |
xx |
& ≈ \cfrac{z
M | ||||
|
f3+2fh(f+h)}~;~~&
c | |
\sigma | |
xx |
& ≈ 0\\
f | |
\tau | |
xz |
& ≈
\cfrac{Q | ||||
|
f3+4fh(f+h)}\left[(h+f)2-z2\right]~;~~&
c | |
\tau | |
xz |
& ≈
\cfrac{Q | ||||
|
f2+h(f+h)} \end{align}
f\ll2h
D ≈ 2Effh(f+h)
\begin{align}
f | |
\sigma | |
xx |
& ≈ \cfrac{zMx}{2fh(f+h)}~;~~&
c | |
\sigma | |
xx |
& ≈ 0\\
f | |
\tau | |
xz |
& ≈
2-z | |
\cfrac{Q | |
x}{4fh(f+h)}\left[(h+f) |
2\right]~;~~&
c | |
\tau | |
xz |
& ≈ \cfrac{Qx(f+2h)}{4h(f+h)} ≈ \cfrac{Qx}{2h} \end{align}
Hence the problem can be split into two parts, one involving only core shear and the other involving only bending stresses in the facesheets.\begin{align}
f \sigma xx & ≈ \pm\cfrac{Mx}{2fh}~;~~&
c \sigma xx & ≈ 0\\
f \tau xz & ≈ 0~;~~&
c \tau xz & ≈ \cfrac{Qx}{2h} \end{align}
The main assumptions of linear sandwich theories of beams with thin facesheets are:
However, the xz shear-stresses in the core are not neglected.
The constitutive relations for two-dimensional orthotropic linear elastic materials are
\begin{bmatrix}\sigmaxx\ \sigmazz\ \sigmazx\end{bmatrix}=\begin{bmatrix}C11&C13&0\ C13&C33&0\ 0&0&C55\end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix}\varepsilonxx\ \varepsilonzz\ \varepsilonzx\end{bmatrix}
face | |
\sigma | |
xx |
=
face | |
C | |
11 |
face | |
~\varepsilon | |
xx |
~;~~
core | |
\sigma | |
zx |
=
core | |
C | |
55 |
core | |
~\varepsilon | |
zx |
~;~~
face | |
\sigma | |
zz |
=
face | |
\sigma | |
xz |
=0~;~~
core | |
\sigma | |
zz |
=
core | |
\sigma | |
xx |
=0
face | |
\varepsilon | |
zz |
=
face | |
\varepsilon | |
xz |
=0~;~~
core | |
\varepsilon | |
zz |
=
core | |
\varepsilon | |
xx |
=0
The equilibrium equations in two dimensions are
\cfrac{\partial\sigmaxx
face | |
\sigma | |
xx |
\equiv
face | |
\sigma | |
xx |
(z)~;~~
core | |
\sigma | |
zx |
=constant
face | |
\varepsilon | |
xx |
\equiv
face | |
\varepsilon | |
xx |
(z)~;~~
core | |
\varepsilon | |
zx |
=constant
Let the sandwich beam be subjected to a bending moment
M
Q
w
wb
ws
w(x)=wb(x)+ws(x)
From the geometry of the deformation we observe that the engineering shear strain (
\gamma
core | |
\gamma | |
zx |
=\tfrac{2h+
beam | |
f}{2h}~\gamma | |
zx |
\tan\gamma=\gamma
beam | |
\gamma | |
zx |
=\cfrac{dws}{dx}
The facesheets are assumed to deform in accordance with the assumptions of Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The total deflection of the facesheets is assumed to be the superposition of the deflections due to bending and that due to core shear. The
x
face | |
u | |
b |
(x,z)=-z~\cfrac{dwb}{dx}
topface | |
u | |
s |
(x,z)=-\left(z-h-\tfrac{f}{2}\right)~\cfrac{dws}{dx}
botface | |
u | |
s |
(x,z)=-\left(z+h+\tfrac{f}{2}\right)~\cfrac{dws}{dx}
\varepsilonxx=\cfrac{\partialub}{\partialx}+\cfrac{\partialus}{\partialx}
topface | |
\varepsilon | |
xx |
=-z~\cfrac{d2wb}{dx2}-\left(z-h-\tfrac{f}{2}\right)~\cfrac{d2ws}{dx2}~;~~
botface | |
\varepsilon | |
xx |
=-z~\cfrac{d2wb}{dx2}-\left(z+h+\tfrac{f}{2}\right)~\cfrac{d2ws}{dx2}
The shear stress in the core is given by
core | |
\sigma | |
zx |
=
core | |
C | |
55 |
core | |
~\varepsilon | |
zx |
=
core | |
\cfrac{C | |
55 |
The normal stresses in the facesheets are given by
core \sigma zx =\tfrac{2h+
core f}{4h}~C 55 ~\cfrac{dws}{dx}
face | |
\sigma | |
xx |
=
face | |
C | |
11 |
face | |
~\varepsilon | |
xx |
\begin{align}
topface \sigma xx &=
face -z~C 11 ~\cfrac{d2wb}{dx2}-\left(z-h-
face \tfrac{f}{2}\right)~C 11 ~\cfrac{d2ws}{dx2}&=&
face -z~C 11 ~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}+
face \left(\tfrac{2h+f}{2}\right)~C 11 ~\cfrac{d2ws}{dx2}\\
botface \sigma xx &=
face -z~C 11 ~\cfrac{d2wb}{dx2}-\left(z+h+
face \tfrac{f}{2}\right)~C 11 ~\cfrac{d2ws}{dx2}&=&
face -z~C 11 ~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}-
face \left(\tfrac{2h+f}{2}\right)~C 11 ~\cfrac{d2ws}{dx2} \end{align}
The resultant normal force in a face sheet is defined as
face | |
N | |
xx |
:=
f/2 | |
\int | |
-f/2 |
face | |
\sigma | |
xx |
~dzf
face | |
M | |
xx |
:=
f/2 | |
\int | |
-f/2 |
face | |
z | |
xx |
~dzf
topface | |
z | |
f |
:=z-h-\tfrac{f}{2}~;~~
botface | |
z | |
f |
:=z+h+\tfrac{f}{2}
In the core, the resultant moment is}\left(\cfrac + \cfrac\right) = -\cfrac~\cfrac = M^_ \end\begin{align}
topface N xx &=-f\left(h+
face \tfrac{f}{2}\right)~C 11 ~\cfrac{d2wb}{dx2}=-
botface N xx \\
topface M xx &=
face -\cfrac{f 11
core | |
M | |
xx |
:=
h | |
\int | |
-h |
core | |
z~\sigma | |
xx |
~dz=0
M=
topface | |
N | |
xx |
~(2h+f)+
topface | |
2~M | |
xx |
The shear forceM=
face -\cfrac{f(2h+f) 11 ~\cfrac{d2wb}{dx2}-
face \cfrac{f 11 ~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}
Qx
where
core Q x =
h \kappa\int -h \sigmaxz~dz=
core \tfrac{\kappa(2h+f)}{2}~C 55 ~\cfrac{dws}{dx}
\kappa
face | |
Q | |
x |
=
face | |
\cfrac{dM | |
xx |
For thin facesheets, the shear force in the facesheets is usually ignored.[2]}~\cfrac
face Q x =
face -\cfrac{f 11
The bending stiffness of the sandwich beam is given by
Dbeam=-M/\tfrac{d2w}{dx2}
M=
face | |
-\cfrac{f(2h+f) | |
11 |
~\cfrac{d2wb}{dx2}-
face | |
\cfrac{f | |
11 |
~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}
M ≈ -\cfrac{f[3(2h+f)2+f
face | |
11 |
~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}
f\ll2h
and that of the facesheets isDbeam ≈ \cfrac{f[3(2h+f)2+f
face 11 ≈
face \cfrac{f(2h+f) 11
Dface=
face \cfrac{f 11
The shear stiffness of the beam is given by
Sbeam=Qx/\tfrac{dws}{dx}
Sbeam=Score=
core \cfrac{\kappa(2h+f)}{2}~C 55
A relation can be obtained between the bending and shear deflections by using the continuity of tractions between the core and the facesheets. If we equate the tractions directly we get
nx~\sigma
face | |
xx |
=nz~\sigma
core | |
zx |
nx=1
nz=1
nz=-1
z=\pmh
face | |
2fh~C | |
11 |
~\cfrac{d2ws}{dx2}-
core | |
(2h+f)~C | |
55 |
~\cfrac{dws}{dx}=
face | |
4h | |
11 |
~\cfrac{d2wb}{dx2}
nz~\sigma
core | |
zx |
=\cfrac{d
face | |
N | |
xx |
}\right)~\cfrac\cfrac{dws}{dx}=
face -2fh~\left(\cfrac{C 11
Using the above definitions, the governing balance equations for the bending moment and shear force are
\begin{align} M&=Dbeam~\cfrac{d2ws}{dx2}-\left(Dbeam+2Dface\right)~\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}\\ Q&=Score~\cfrac{dws}{dx}-2Dface~\cfrac{d3w}{dx3} \end{align}
w
ws
\begin{align} &\left(
2Dface | |
Score |
\right)\cfrac{d4w}{dx4}-\left(1+
2Dface | |
Dbeam |
\right)\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}+\left(\cfrac{1}{Score
Q ≈ \cfrac{dM}{dx}~;~~q ≈ \cfrac{dQ}{dx}
q
Several techniques may be used to solve this system of two coupled ordinary differential equations given the applied load and the applied bending moment and displacement boundary conditions.} \\& \left(\frac\right)\cfrac - \left(1+\frac\right)\cfrac = -\left(\cfrac\right)\frac\,\end\begin{align} &\left(
2Dface Score \right)\cfrac{d4w}{dx4}-\left(1+
2Dface Dbeam \right)\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}=
M Dbeam -\cfrac{q}{Score
Assuming that each partial cross section fulfills Bernoulli's hypothesis, the balance of forces and moments on the deformed sandwich beam element can be used to deduce the bending equation for the sandwich beam.
The stress resultants and the corresponding deformations of the beam and of the cross section can be seen in Figure 1. The following relationships can be derived using the theory of linear elasticity:[3] [4]
\begin{align} Mcore&=Dbeam\left(\cfrac{d\gamma2}{dx}+\vartheta\right)=Dbeam\left(\cfrac{d\gamma}{dx}-\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}+\vartheta\right)\\ Mface&=-Dface\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}\\ Qcore&=Score\gamma\\ Qface&=-Dface\cfrac{d3w}{dx3}\end{align}
- | w | transverse displacement of the beam | - | \gamma | Average shear strain in the sandwich | \gamma=\gamma1+\gamma2 | - | \gamma1 | Rotation of the facesheets | \gamma1=\cfrac{dw}{dx} | - | \gamma2 | Shear strain in the core | - | Mcore | Bending moment in the core | - | Dbeam | Bending stiffness of the sandwich beam | - | Mface | Bending moment in the facesheets | - | Dface | Bending stiffness of the facesheets | - | Qcore | Shear force in the core | - | Qface | Shear force in the facesheets | - | Score | Shear stiffness of the core | - | \vartheta | Additional bending as a consequence of a temperature drop | \vartheta=
| - | \alpha | Temperature coefficient of expansion of the converings |
Q
M
\begin{alignat}{3} &Score\gamma-Dface\cfrac{d3w}{dx3}=Q& &(1)\\ &Dbeam\left(\cfrac{d\gamma}{dx}+\vartheta\right)-\left(Dbeam+Dface\right)\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}=M& &(2) \end{alignat}
w
\gamma
\begin{align} &\left(
Dface | |
Score |
\right)\cfrac{d4w}{dx4}-\left(1+
Dface | |
Dbeam |
\right)\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}=
M | |
Dbeam |
-\cfrac{q}{Score
The bending behavior and stresses in a continuous sandwich beam can be computed by solving the two governing differential equations.
For simple geometries such as double span beams under uniformly distributed loads, the governing equations can be solved by using appropriate boundary conditions and using the superposition principle. Such results are listed in the standard DIN EN 14509:2006[5] (Table E10.1). Energy methods may also be used to compute solutions directly.
The differential equation of sandwich continuous beams can be solved by the use of numerical methods such as finite differences and finite elements. For finite differences Berner[6] recommends a two-stage approach. After solving the differential equation for the normal forces in the cover sheets for a single span beam under a given load, the energy method can be used to expand the approach for the calculation of multi-span beams. Sandwich continuous beam with flexible cover sheets can also be laid on top of each other when using this technique. However, the cross-section of the beam has to be constant across the spans.
A more specialized approach recommended by Schwarze[4] involves solving for the homogeneous part of the governing equation exactly and for the particular part approximately. Recall that the governing equation for a sandwich beam is
\left( | 2Dface |
Score |
\right)\cfrac{d4w}{dx4}-\left(1+
2Dface | |
Dbeam |
\right)\cfrac{d2w}{dx2}=
M | |
Dbeam |
-\cfrac{q}{Score
\alpha:=\cfrac{2Dface
\cfrac{d2W}{dx2}-\left(\cfrac{1+\alpha}{\beta}\right)~W=
M | |
\betaDbeam |
-\cfrac{q}{Dface
Results predicted by linear sandwich theory correlate well with the experimentally determined results. The theory is used as a basis for the structural report which is needed for the construction of large industrial and commercial buildings which are clad with sandwich panels . Its use is explicitly demanded for approvals and in the relevant engineering standards.[5]
Mohammed Rahif Hakmi and others conducted researches into numerical, experimental behavior of materials and fire and blast behavior of Composite material. He published multiple research articles:
Hakmi developed a design method, which had been recommended by the CIB Working Commission W056 Sandwich Panels, ECCS/CIB Joint Committee and has been used in the European recommendations for the design of sandwich panels (CIB, 2000).[15] [16] [17]