Stability Analysis of Multilayer Sandwich Structures

Abstract

The finite element method is applied to the stability analysis of multilayer sandwich structures with n stiff layers and n-1 weak cores, in which each layer or core can assume different material properties, so that the concept of common shear angle is no longer applicable. A beam element, a rectangular plate element and a triangular element are used in the analysis and their stability matrices are developed. The elements are applied to several standard stability problems and good accuracy is demonstrated. The complex problem of rectangular plate with a circular hole is included to show the versatility of the method.