Stress distribution in sandwich beams under tension

This paper investigates the distribution of load in the skins of sandwich beams subjected to in-plane tension, via the action of shear lag. The investigation also includes the effect of the tapered reinforcement at the ends of the sandwich beams. A literature survey shows that a well- known shear lag theory is available which can be used to analyse special cases of beams without end reinforcement. A simple theory is proposed in this contribution to study the significance of the end reinforcement on the load distribution in sandwich beams. Details of an experimental procedure carried out and some experimental results obtained are also presented. These experimental results provide some validative indication of the proposed simple theory presented. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.