Numerical study on thermal buckling of CFRP–Al honeycomb sandwich composites based on homogenization–localization analysis

Thermal buckling of CFRP–Al honeycomb sandwich composites is numerically studied by performing linear eigenproblem analysis. The analysis focuses on the thermal buckling of the hexagonal faces of sandwich composites. Calculation of stress stiffness utilizes stresses responses obtained by homogenization–localization analysis employing twelve unit-cell models. In this regard, the homogenization–localization analysis is carried out by relieving periodicity in the thickness direction. The buckling analysis employs two modeling techniques, i.e. face modeling and face-core modeling, whereby the critical eigenvalues are found to be sensitive to the selected technique. In order to better understand the influence of out-of-plane periodicity, the results of standard analysis with three-dimensional periodicity are also presented. It is found that relieving periodicity in the thickness direction affects the calculation of stress responses as well as critical buckling eigenvalue, particularly for unidirectional laminate faces. Parametric studies of the critical buckling eigenvalue are also performed to investigate the effect of geometrical and material configuration, and obtain reasonable results.