Elastic Deflection of Thin-Walled Sandwich Panel

Abstract

Derived expressions of equivalent elastic constants of a truss-core sandwich panel are presented in this paper. The truss-core sandwich panel is similar to conventional sandwich systems, but the panel eliminates most of the attendant problems associated with the fabrication process of conventional sandwich systems. The 3-D trusscore sandwich panel is transformed into an orthotropic thick plate continuum for which 2- D closed-form and 2-D finite element solutions are obtained. Comparison of closed-form solution and finite element results showed good agreement. Using closed-form solution, deflection coefficients are computed and presented in the form of data tables to aid rapid assessment of maximum elastic deflection of truss-core panels; linear interpolation allows the response to be determined, and from which effective preliminary design may proceed without hindrance.