Equivalent models of composite corrugated cores with elastomeric coatings for morphing structures

Coated composite corrugated panels have wide applications in engineering, especially in morphing skin applications. The optimal design of these structures requires simple models of the panels that may be incorporated into multi-disciplinary system models. Therefore equivalent structural models are required that retain the dependence on the geometric parameters of the coated corrugated panels. Taking into account the geometric and mechanical properties of the coated corrugated panel, an analytical homogenization model is investigated in this paper. The importance of this work is that it provides a simple equivalent analytical model which uses the geometric and mechanical properties of panel as variables that can be applied for further optimization studies. In this regard, two analytical solutions to calculate the equivalent tensile and bending flexural properties of a coated composite corrugated core in the longitudinal and transverse directions are presented. Then different experimental and numerical models are investigated to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the presented equivalent model. The comparison studies demonstrate the suitability of the proposed method for application in further complex design investigations. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.