Flexure of Laminated Beams

Using the principle of potential energy, two fourth order differential equations are developed to describe the flexure of a rectangular three layered laminated beam using the calculus of variations. Natural boundary conditions are given. There is no limitation imposed on thickness of core and face. Formulas for deflections, stresses for cantilever and simply supported beams are derived. The region near a fixed end and the concentration of stresses there is studied. New results for a homogeneous cantilever beam are given. A basis for a Galerkin type solution results from the analysis.