Abstract
Many aircraft structures are thin walled and stringer-stiffened, and therefore, prone to a loss of stability. This paper deals with accurate and validated stability analysis of the model of aircraft skin under compressive loading. Both experimental and numerical analyzes are conducted. Two different methods of joining panel elements are considered. In the first case, the panel is fabricated using rivets. In the second variant, the refill friction stir spot welding technique is used. Both types of panels are loaded in axial compression in a uniaxial tensile testing machine. The geometrically and physically nonlinear finite element analyzes of the panels were carried out in ABAQUS/Standard. The Digital Image Correlation measurement system ARAMIS has been utilized to monitor the buckling behavior and failure mode in the skin-stringer interface of the stiffened panels. The results of experiments and the digital image correlation system are presented and compared to the numerical simulations.
Highlights
Thin-walled stringer-stiffened structures are widely used in many areas of engineering, both in the construction industry, and manufacturing mechanical constructions
Friction Stir Welding (FSW), an alternative joining process to traditional rivet fastening in primary aircraft structures, has the potential to lower manufacturing costs and structural weight [4]
The increase of weld spacing by 50% was the cause of local buckling of the welds
Summary
Thin-walled stringer-stiffened structures are widely used in many areas of engineering, both in the construction industry, and manufacturing mechanical constructions. As far as the technologies for producing the thin-walled stiffened structures used in the aircraft industry are concerned, in recent years there has been a great interest in new technologies for joining the skin to the stringers. The technique of joining thin-walled aircraft panels by riveting has been the traditional method that has been used for decades, and alternative technologies are being developed [2,3]. Friction Stir Welding (FSW), an alternative joining process to traditional rivet fastening in primary aircraft structures, has the potential to lower manufacturing costs and structural weight [4]. The new welding technologies for joining thin-walled structural elements include linear and spot variants of friction welding
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