THE THERMAL BUCKLING OF COMPOSITE SANDWICH BEAMS ON ELASTIC FOUNATIONS

On the basis of accurately considering axial extension and transverse shearing, geometrically nonlinear governing equations for composite sandwich beams with elastic supports subjected to thermal loads are formulated. By using a shooting method, the two-point boundary value problem for nonlinear ordinary differential equations is solved numerically and the numerical solutions to static thermal post-buckling and thermal bending deformation of the sandwich beams with pinned-fixed ends under transverse uniform thermal loads are obtained. Curves of critical buckling temperature versus foundation stiffness parameters are plotted and mode transition feature is given. Thermal post-buckling equilibrium configurations of the beam in the first mode for different values of foundation stiffness and thermal load are analyzed.