Sandwich Plates with Interlayer Slips

Abstract

An elasticity solution for sandwich plates assembled with nonrigid bondings is presented. The solution satisfies the equilibrium equations of the face and core elements, the compatibility equations of stresses and strains at the interfaces, and the relevant boundary conditions. To investigate the effects of bonding stiffnesses on the responses of sandwich plates, numerical evaluations are conducted. The results obtained have shown that the bonding stiffness, up to a certain level, has a strong effect on the plate deflection. Beyond this level, the usual assumption of perfect bonding used in classical theories is quite acceptable. An answer to what constitutes “perfect” bonding is found in terms of the ratio of the core stiffness to the bonding stiffness.