Analysis and Design of Structural Sandwich Panels Against Denting

The problem of local bending often encountered in laterally loaded sandwich panels is analyzed by considering the deflection of the loaded facing against the not loaded facing as being governed by an elastic foundation model. This is achieved by the development of a two-parameter elastic foundation formulation which takes into account the existence of shear interactions between the loaded facing and the supporting medium (core material). The results obtained by application of the developed approximate solution procedure, i.e., the local stress field in the near vicinity of the area of application of the external load, are compared with finite element solution results and very good comparative results are obtained.