Wrinkling of sandwich column: comparison between finite element analysis and analytical solutions

Wrinkling analysis of sandwich columns was carried out. Two methods were used, namely finite element methods and analytical solutions. In the finite element methods, shell elements based on Reissner-Mindlin were employed across the beam thickness. A very fine element was used to model both the skin and the core across the beam thickness. The buckling mode was increased up to 100 in order to be able to model the wrinkling mode. The analytical solutions used energy methods and Raleigh-Ritz solutions developed earlier by the author. Finally, comparisons were made with experimental data taken from published results. Good agreements were achieved between the experimental results and both the finite element and analytical solution. The difference was less than 10%. Both finite element and analytical solutions were able to predict both symmetrical and asymmetrical wrinkling. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.