Optimization of a sandwich beam design: analytical and numerical solutions

An optimization work was developed in this work to provide design information for sandwich beam in civil engineering applications. This research is motivated by the wide-range applications of sandwich structures such as; slab, beam, girder, and railway sleeper. The design of a sandwich beam was conducted by using analytical and numerical optimization. Both analytical and numerical procedures consider the optimum design with structure mass objective minimization. Allowable deflection was considered as design constraints. It was found that the optimized core to the skins mass ratio is affected by the skin to core density and elastic modulus ratios. Finally, the optimum core to skin mass ratio cannot be constant for different skin and core materials.