Analytical and numerical analysis of multilayered beams with interlayer slip

Multilayered beams consist of an association of beams of different materials and cross-sections, linked by deformable connections which allow for relative horizontal slip between the layers, and are present in several engineering applications.The purpose of this paper is to study the behavior of the general case of multilayered composite beams with interlayer slip, under Euler–Bernoulli as well as Timoshenko beam theory assumptions. Analytical formulations are presented for the linear case, along with a new description based solely on the interlayer slips, which allows easy determination of closed-form solutions for statically determinate beams.Numerical examples employing association of beam and zero-thickness interface elements are presented, and their accuracy is verified against the analytical solutions. Slip or curvature locking problems are addressed for the multilayered case. It is found that the association of beam and interface elements provides a simple yet efficient solution for multilayered beam analysis.