2-D elasticity solution of layered composite beams with viscoelastic interlayers

This paper focuses on the mechanical properties of layered composite beams with viscoelastic interlayers. The exact two-dimensional elasticity theory is used to represent the deformation of each beam layer. The viscoelastic interlayer is described by the Maxwell–Wiechert model through the quasi-elastic approximation, which greatly simplifies the analytical process. The stress function with a series of undetermined coefficients depending on the time variable is derived for each beam layer. No matter how many layers the beam includes, the total solution can be obtained rapidly and efficiently by using the recursive matrix technique. The present method can give the exact stress and deformation distributions in the beam, which cannot be predicted by the approximate theories such as the one-dimensional Euler–Bernoulli theory. The convergence of the solution is numerically verified. A comparison study indicates that the present results are in agreement with those obtained from the finite element method; however, they have obvious differences from the results based on the Euler–Bernoulli theory for thick beams. Finally, the variations of stresses and displacements with respect to time in a five-layer beam are discussed in detail.