Exact solutions for the macro-,meso- and micro-scale analysis of composite laminates and sandwich structures

The present work proposes a closed-form solution based on refined beam theories for the static analysis of fiber-reinforced composite and sandwich beams under simply supported boundary conditions. The higher-order beam models are developed by employing Carrera Unified Formulation, which uses Lagrange-polynomials expansions to approximate the kinematic field over the cross section. The proposed methodology allows to carry out analysis of composite structure analysis through a single formulation in global-local sense, i.e. homogenized laminates at a global scale and fiber-matrix constituents at a local scale, leading to component-wise analysis. Therefore, three-dimensional stress/displacement fields at different scales can be successfully detected by increasing the order of Lagrange polynomials opportunely. The governing equations are derived in a strong-form and solved in a Navier-type sense. Three benchmark numerical assessments are carried out on a single-layer transversely isotropic beam, a cross-ply laminate [ 0 ∘ / 90 ∘ / 0 ∘ ] beam and a sandwich beam. The results show that accurate displacement and stress values can be obtained in different parts of the structure with lower computational cost in comparison with traditional, enhanced as well as three-dimensional finite element methods. Besides, this study may serve as benchmarks for future assessments in this field.