Dynamic Response Of Soft Core Sandwich Beams Under A Moving Point Load

With the continuous development and widely applications of composite structures, a series of new theories and algorithms are proposed. Differential quadrature element method is getting more and more popular in the field of numerical analysis. In this thesis, the weak form quadrature element method is used to obtain the dynamic response of soft core sandwich beams under a moving point load. The key algorithms and numerical results are presented and discussed.Based on the extended high order sandwich panel theory and Hamilton principle, an N-node weak form quadrature sandwich beam element is established. GLL(Gauss–Lobatto–Legendre) points are used as the element nodes. The formulas to calculate the element stiffness and mass matrices are given by using GLL quadrature together with the explicit formulas of the weighting coefficients existing in the differential quadrature method. A simplified mass matrix is used for dynamic analysis. The correctness and efficiency of the element stiffness and simplified mass matrices are verified first. It is shown that the weak form quadrature element method has advantages of high accuracy and computational efficiency. The dynamic responses of soft core sandwich beams subjected to a point load moving at different speeds are obtained for the first time. The results are verified by comparing them with data obtained by ABAQUS. The results may be a reference for researchers and designers. Some conclusions are drawn based on the results reported in the thesis. Present research extends the application range of the weak form quadrature element method.