Three‐Dimensional Solutions for Thermomechanical Stresses in Sandwich Panels and Shells

Abstract

Analytic three‐dimensional thermoelasticity solutions are presented for static problems of simply supported sandwich panels and cylindrical shells subjected to mechanical and thermal loads. The panels and shells have laminated composite face sheets of arbitrary thickness separated by a core. Each of the individual layers of the face sheets and the core is modeled as a three‐dimensional continuum. Analytic first‐order sensitivity coefficients are evaluated to assess the sensitivity of the responses to variations in material parameters of the face sheets and the core, as well as to variations in the curvatures and thicknesses of the sandwich and face sheets. Also, the strain energy associated with various stress components in the face sheets and core are calculated and compared. The information obtained in the present study can aid the development and assessment of two‐dimensional models for sandwich structures and illuminate the role of particular material parameters in an equivalent model for the core.