Accurate static response of single- and multi-cell laminated box beams

This paper is devoted to the static analysis of laminated beams with both compact and thin-walled cross-sections. The kinematic models are obtained by means of the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), which is a hierarchical formulation leading to very accurate and computationally efficient finite element (FE) models. According to the latest developments in the framework of CUF, it is possible to easily adopt both equivalent-single-layer and layer-wise approaches, by expanding the unknown kinematic variables on the beam cross-section with either Taylor-like or Lagrange-like polynomials, respectively. A number of laminated beam structures are analysed and particular attention is given to laminated single- and multi-cell cross-section beams with open and closed contours. Moreover, in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed refined elements, the results in terms of displacements and stresses are compared with solid FE solutions and, when possible, with the results available from the research literature.