Abstract
The recent development of new forms of composite and hybrid materials together with the need for stronger but lighter structures for use in air and space craft has lead to a rapid rise in the use of sandwich construction. However, the deformation behaviour characteristics of sandwich structures are very complex, even under the simplest of loading arrangements, when compared to the simple homogeneous case. This additional complexity increases the number of possible modes of failure and if sandwich construction is to be used most efficiently then a simple analysis is required to calculate the stresses induced in sandwich structures and hence the expected mode and load at failure. Two such analyses are developed within this region to predict the stress distributions for both symmetrical and non-symmetrical sandwich beams subjected to a transverse load. To provide the simplest possible solution to the problem it was assumed that the elastic deformation behaviour of the facings conformed with the Bernoulli-Euler Theory. The core is assumed to act strictly as an elastic connection between the facings, sustaining the interfacial shear stresses and supporting much of the shear force. The theoretical results obtained from the simple solutions developed were verified by a series of experimental studies involving the testing of two-dimensional photoelastic models. This provided a method for making direct measurements of those stresses of interest, for it is possible to determine the state of stress at any point within the model. Thus despite the complex deformation behaviour characteristics of sandwich structures two simple analyses have been developed which have been found to be effective in predicting the stress distributions associated with symmetrical and non-symmetrical sandwich beams subjected to transverse load.