Analysis of stresses in a simply-supported composite beam with stiffened lateral ends using displacement-potential field

• A simply-supported fiber-reinforced composite beam with stiffened lateral ends is analyzed to determine its elastic field.
• Reliable solution to the present beam was not successful in the past because of lack of a suitable modeling scheme.
• A new analytical scheme based on the displacement-potential formulation is developed to solve the present mixed-boundary value problem.
• A wide range of beam aspect ratio (short to moderately long) is considered to investigate the influence of stiffened ends.
• Both the axial and lateral stiffeners are found to play significant roles in defining overall state of deformation and stresses.

The elastic field of a stiffened simply-supported fiber-reinforced composite beam is investigated using an analytical scheme based on the displacement-potential field. A single fourth-order partial differential equation of equilibrium is solved to determine the potential field of the present mixed-boundary-value elastic problem, and the expressions of relevant displacement and stress components are derived in terms of the potential function using Fourier series. Solutions are obtained for two different types of stiffeners at the opposing lateral ends of the beam, where the fibers are assumed to be directed along the beam axis. The effect of beam aspect ratio is also investigated on the state of stresses at different critical sections of the beam. The soundness and accuracy of the present solutions are verified through a comparison made with the corresponding solutions of classical beam theory and standard computational method.