A novel finite element for global and local buckling analysis of sandwich beams

The paper presents a novel finite element for the analysis of global and local instability phenomena in sandwich beams. The proposed one-dimensional (1D) finite element (FE) takes into account the beam thickness variation considering layer-wise higher-order transversal displacements. This allows for capturing local effects (e.g., wrinkling) in sandwich beams using only 1D modelling. The asymptotic numerical method is used, in combination with the FE modelling, to solve the obtained nonlinear equations. The predicted critical loads from the developed 1D FE model are compared to the critical loads resulting from the analytical and the 2D finite element calculations and good agreements are found.