Dynamic geometrically nonlinear analysis of transversely compressible sandwich plates

In order to construct a plate theory for a thick transversely compressible sandwich plate with composite laminated face sheets, the authors make simplifying assumptions regarding distribution of transverse strain components in the thickness direction. The in-plane stresses and σ_yy (Fig. 1) are computed from the constitutive equations, and the improved values of transverse stress components and σ_zz need to be computed by integration of pointwise equations of motion in a post-process stage of the finite element analysis. The improved values of the transverse strains can also be computed in the post-process stage by substituting the improved transverse stresses into the constitutive relations. A problem of cylindrical bending of a simply supported plate under a uniform load on the upper surface is considered, and comparison is made between the displacements, the in-plane stress and the improved transverse stresses (obtained by integration of the pointwise equations of motion), computed from the plate theory, with the corresponding values of exact elasticity solutions. In this comparison, a good agreement of both solutions is achieved. In the finite element analysis of sandwich plates in cylindrical bending with small thickness-to-length ratios, the shear locking phenomenon does not occur. The model of a sandwich plate in cylindrical bending, presented in this paper, has a wider range of applicability than the models presented in literature so far: it can be applied to the sandwich plates with a wide range of ratios of thickness to the in-plane dimensions, with both thin and thick face sheets (as compared to the thickness of the core) and to the sandwich plates with both transversely rigid and transversely compressible face sheets and cores.     

Fracture in plates of finite thickness

Application of the plane theory of elasticity to planar crack or angular corner geometries leads to the concept of stress singularity and stress intensity factor, which are the cornerstone of contemporary fracture mechanics. However, the stress state near an actual crack tip or corner vertex is always three-dimensional, and the meaning of the results obtained within the plane theory of elasticity and their relation to the actual 3D problems is still not fully understood. In particular, it is not clear whether the same stress field as found from the well-known 2D solutions of the theory of elasticity do describe the corresponding stress components in a plate made of a sufficiently brittle material and subjected to in-plane loading, and what effect the plate thickness has. In the present study we adopt, so called, first order plate theory to attempt to answer these questions. New features of the elastic solutions obtained within this theory are discussed and compared with 2D analytical results and experimental studies as well as with 3D numerical simulations.