Local Effects at the Junctions between Straight and Curved Sandwich Panels

摘要

Cylindrical bending of a sandwich panel assembly consisting of straight and curved sections is considered. The analytical model, which is based on the definition of set of numerically small geometrical parameters, assumes the faces of the sandwich panels to be thin elastic plates or shells, while the core is treated as a 2-D elastic medium. A full set of analytical formulas for estimation of the internal resultants in the core and the faces of a sandwich assembly is presented. The suggested model is applied for the analysis of an aircraft fuselage section subjected to internal pressure loading. The obtained results are compared with numerical results obtained using a high-order sandwich theory, with special emphasis on the localized effects induced in the vicinity of junctions between straight and curved panel sections. A very close match between the results of the two models is observed, thus demonstrating the accuracy of the proposed closed form estimates.