Elastoplastic buckling and post-buckling analysis of sandwich columns

• The buckling and post-buckling behavior of sandwich columns is investigated.
• Analytical elastoplastic critical values are obtained for global and local modes.
• A 2D FE model is developed in finite strain, with arc-length and branching methods.
• Analytical and FE results are compared and parametric analyses are performed.
• Secondary bifurcation modes occur, due to modal interaction, and lead to collapse.

Sandwich structures are widely used in many industrial applications thanks to their interesting compromise between lightweight and high mechanical properties. This compromise is realized thanks to the presence of different parts in the composite material, namely the skins which are particularly thin and stiff relative to the homogeneous core material and possibly core reinforcements. Owing to these geometric and material features, sandwich structures are subject to global but also local buckling phenomena which are mainly responsible for their collapse. The buckling analysis of sandwich materials is therefore an important issue for their mechanical design. In this respect, this paper is devoted to the theoretical study of the local/global buckling and post-buckling behavior of sandwich columns under axial compression. Only symmetric sandwich materials are considered with homogeneous and isotropic core/skin layers. First, the buckling problem is analytically addressed, by solving the so-called bifurcation equation in a 3D framework. The bifurcation analysis is performed using an hybrid model (the two faces are represented by Euler–Bernoulli beams, whereas the core material is considered as a 2D continuous solid), considering both an elastic and elastoplastic core material. Closed-form expressions are derived for the critical loadings and the associated bifurcation modes. Then, the post-buckling response is numerically investigated using a 2D finite element bespoke program, including finite plasticity, arc-length methods and branch-switching procedures. The numerical computations enable us to validate the previous analytical solutions and describe several kinds of post-critical responses up to advanced states, depending on geometric and material parameters. In most cases, secondary bifurcations occur during the post-critical stage. These secondary modes are mainly due to the modal interaction phenomenon and give rise to unstable post-buckled solutions which lead to final collapse.