A generic modelling of composite beams with longitudinal and vertical partial interaction

ABSTRACT This paper presents a novel analytical formulation for the analysis of composite beams with longitudinal and vertical partial interaction in which the interface connection deforms both longitudinally, i.e. along the beam length, and vertically, i.e. transverse to the connection interface. The theoretical model is derived from the principle of virtual work, using the displacement method. Based on the weak form of the problem, a novel finite element is proposed and applied for the analysis of a propped cantilever subjected to a point load applied to the lower layer at mid-span. In this application, the vertical interface connection is modelled by means of a bi-linear constitutive relationship to reflect the more realistic case in which the vertical connection stiffness is several orders of magnitude greater when the layers are in contact, compared with the case of layers’ separation. An iterative procedure has been proposed to obtain convergence to the final solution.