Analysis of Thin-Walled Composite Beams by Energy Method

Utilization of fiber reinforced plastics in the aerospace structures has become commonplace recently. However, considerable amount of research work is needed to understand the various coupling phenomena that arise from the use of FRP materials, and in efficiently modelling the coupling behavior in analytical formulations. The present effort describes the formulation and solution of FRP box beam type of structures through the use of the total potential energy functional in conjunction with the Ritz method. Results obtained from the present effort are compared to those obtained from a finite ele ment formulation and also to those from experimental results available in the literature, and it is shown that the present procedure is accurate for beams of symmetric layups.