THERMAL BUCKLING OF BIMODULAR SANDWICH BEAMS

This paper presents a model that explores the thermal buckling of three-layer sandwich beams possessing thick facings and moderately stiff cores. Bimodular facings and core material are used. In contrast to conventional theory, the effects of transverse shear deformation in the facings as well as the effect of the stretching and bending action in the core on thermal buckling are considered. The governing equations are derived using the principle of minimum total potential energy and the fact that its second derivative is zero. The finite-element results are presented in order to investigate the effects of important parameters such as thickness, thermal expansion coefficients and moduli ratio on critical buckling temperatures.