Research Information System
MECHANICS BASED DESIGN OF STRUCTURES AND MACHINES, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
This paper presents an innovative computational approach for modeling continuous material gradation in functionally graded sandwich beams (FGSBs) with porous cores, utilizing Ansys Mechanical APDL (Ansys Parametric Design Language). The material properties of the FGSBs are modeled to vary progressively in the thickness direction based on a power-law distribution. The uniform, symmetric, and asymmetric porosity patterns were examined to assess the impact of different core configurations. The beams are meticulously modeled using the SOLID186 element, with material gradation and porosity distribution rules explicitly coded in Ansys via its APDL tool. Two boundary conditions were explored, namely clamped-clamped and clamped-free, considering a comprehensive three-dimensional representation of the beams. The accuracy of the proposed approach was validated by comparing the results of free vibration, buckling, and static bending analyses with those from a quasi-3D deformation theory-based finite element model, as well as with findings from existing literature. An extensive parametric study delves into the effects of the porosity coefficient, core porosity distribution, skin-to-core thickness ratio, power-law index, slenderness, and boundary conditions on the mechanical behavior of FGSBs. The study's findings demonstrate strong concordance with the literature, confirming the precision and reliability of the proposed technique. This validation paves the way for its application in various research areas involving FG sandwich structures across different engineering disciplines.