Rectangular sandwich plates with Miura-ori folded core under quasi-static loadings

This research presents a parametric study by using ABAQUS/Explicit and analytical analysis of rectangular sandwich plates with Miura-ori folded core. Two loading conditions are studied: three-point bending and uniformly distributed pressure loading. Load-displacement curves are obtained and energy absorption performance is assessed. Under three-point bending and uniformly distributed pressure loading of small magnitude, performance of such sandwich plates has been found to be better than that of corresponding monolithic plates of the same mass. In addition, analytical modelling has been conducted based on the plastic hinge theory, which results in a good agreement with those from the finite element analysis (FEA). It has been found that the maximum bending strength is governed by the incipience or fully plastic yielding of the core material for relatively thick cores, or elastic buckling of the core compression for thin cores. Furthermore, the yielding moment, fully plastic bending moment and elastic buckling moment of the incipience of core buckling have been evaluated.