Exact formulas for bending of sandwich beams using the Refined Zigzag Theory

The paper presents some exact formulas for the maximum deflection of symmetric beams, subject to different boundary and loading conditions, within the framework of the Refined Zigzag Theory, recently proposed for the analysis of multilayered structures. Considering sandwich-like stacking sequences, these formulas can be simplified further in order to be easily used for practical applications. Based on these results, two studies are conducted: on the contribution of zigzag deformation to the bending of sandwich beams and on the evaluation of shear correction factor based on the Refined Zigzag Theory