Compound Size Effect in Composite Beams with Softening Connectors. II: Differential Equations and Behavior

Abstract

After presenting an energy analysis of size effect in the first part of this study, the second part gives a solution by integrating the differential equations of beam bending theory, coupled with a softening force-slip law for the interface. This analysis is more accurate than the previous energy analysis but does not yield simple explicit formulas for the size effect. The results generally support the simple conclusion from energy analysis. They do not disagree with the available limited experimental evidence; however, measurements of size effect in geometrically scaled composite beams seem unavailable. Further tests are needed.