Ultimate strength of steel-elastomer sandwich panels under combined loadings including in-plane shear

Abstract

Sandwich Plate System (SPS) is a sandwich construction consisting of steel face sheets and polyurethane core. The main objective for the steel faces is to resist bending and in-plane loads, while the compliant core transfers shear between the faces. One important benefit with sandwich panels is the elimination of the need for intermediate stiffeners. SPS panels are today used in stadium and arena terraces, bridges, ships and as structural flooring.

Det Norske Veritas (DNV) is currently developing rules and guidelines for design and installation of SPS in ship newbuildings. To do this it is important to study how the SPS panels behave under a variety of loads such as lateral pressure load, in-plane shear load and in-plane uni-axial compression load. Combinations of these loads are important to study to establish strength criterias for SPS panels. Studying these load combinations is the objective for the current study as a collaboration between the University of Oslo (UiO) and Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

In the current study the ultimate capacity of SPS panels under lateral pressure load and in-plane shear load has been studied both separately and in combination. In-plane uni-axial compression load is also included in three-way interactions. Both simply supported and clamped boundary conditions are studied to see the effect of these. Theories that can model the separate load cases are described and compared to each other and to the finite element results. Some theory for load combinations are reviewed, and a slightly conservative interaction curve for different load combinations on SPS panels is suggested.