Axially Loaded Sandwich Panels

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase of interest in sandwich cladding panels consisting of metal faces and a rigid foam core. Previous studies have concentrated on the behavior of these panels when subject to bending action due to wind and snow load and under temperature gradient. Comparatively little is known about their behavior under axial compressive load when acting as load‐bearing wall panels. This paper first considers appropriate methods of analysis for sandwich panels subject to combined axial compressive load and bending moment and an exact finite element is derived. Some early and previously unpublished tests are described and the results compared with the theoretical values. It is concluded that great care must be taken in the design of load bearing wall panels because of the interaction between local and global buckling and their sensitivity to eccentricity of load.