Thermomechanical vibration of sandwich beams with FGP core based on a Timoshenko beam formulation

Abstract

This paper investigates the thermomechanical vibration of sandwich beams with isotropic homogeneous face layers and a core of porous material by using a Timoshenko finite element beam formulation. The material properties of the sandwich beams are dependent on the environmental temperature, and the porosity distribution in the core through the beam thickness follows a cosine function. Applying the finite element method, a beam element formulation is derived and used to construct the discretized motion equation. The present formulation employs the solution of the homogeneous equilibrium equations to approximate the rotation and deflection of the beams, which helps to improve the efficiency and to avoid the shear-locking problem. The finding emphasizes the significant impact of the environmental temperature and the porous parameter on the thermomechanical vibration responses. A detailed investigation is presented to illustrate the effects of the temperature variations, the porous coefficient, the specific beam configuration, and the ratio of span to height of the beam on the vibration of the sandwich beams.