FREE VIBRATION OF CLAMPED ORTHOTROPIC SANDWICH PANEL

Sandwich panels are thin-walled structures fabricated from two flat sheets, separated by and attached to a core. An analytical solution for the dynamic response of such structures is not available but equivalency in the form of a homogenous orthotropic thick plate can be formulated. This paper considers a truss-core sandwich panel that is similar to conventional sandwich systems, but eliminates many of the attendant problems associated with fabrication of conventional forms. The dynamic response of the truss-core sandwich panel is then formulated as a homogeneous orthotropic thick plate. Closed-form solution for a clamped plate is derived. Closed-form solutions are compared with both 2- and 3-D finite element results. Excellent agreement of response is obtained.