A YIELD CRITERION AND PLASTIC ANALYSIS FOR PHYSICALLY ASYMMETRIC SANDWICH BEAM WITH METAL FOAM CORE

Abstract

A yield criterion for physically asymmetric sandwich cross-sections is proposed in this paper. Using the yield criterion, analytical solutions for the large deflections of fully clamped asymmetric slender sandwich beams transversely loaded by a flat punch at the midspan are derived considering the core strength effect and interaction of bending and axial stretching. Finite element (FE) method is employed to predict the large deflection behavior of the sandwich beams. Good agreement is achieved between the analytical predictions and FE results. Effects of asymmetric factor, core strength and loading punch size are also discussed. It is demonstrated that core strength and loading punch size have significant influences on the load-carrying and energy absorption capacities of physically asymmetric metal sandwich beams while the asymmetry effect could be neglected when the deflection exceeds sandwich beam depth.