A novel sandwich composite footbridge is presented in the paper, as an example of practical application of laminated composites in civil engineering. The in situ static load tests of the footbridge before its acceptation for exploitation are shown and discussed. The results are compared with the corresponding ones from a numerical equivalent single layer model of the sandwich structure created within the framework of finite element...

Within the framework of a 6-parameter nonlinear shell theory, with strain measures of Cosserat type, constitutive relations are proposed for thin elastic composite shells. The material law is expressed in terms of five engineering constants of classical anisotropic continuum plus an additional parameter accounting for drilling stiffness. The theory allows for unlimited displacements and rotations. A number of examples are presented...

The paper presents the formulation of the elastic constitutive law for functionally graded materials (FGM) on the grounds of nonlinear 6-parameter shell theory with the 6th parameter being the drilling degree of freedom. The material law is derived by through-the-thickness integration of the Cosserat plane stress equations. The constitutive equations are formulated with respect to the neutral physical surface. The influence of...