Structural Analysis of PVC-CF Composite Materials

Abstract

The article presents study on vacuum-formed carbon fibre, glass fibre and PVC foam composite materials. Experiment and finite elements method calculations are performed to determine material properties. Experiment is done for the materials manufactured in the Institute of Machine Design Fundamentals. Analyzed material is in use in automotive industry. It is used to create vehicle’s structure reinforcement. Material is analyzed for tensile strength and bending strength. In order to fully characterize the properties of the material, research of multilayer composites consisting of separate components are carried out. Research is conducted to characterize complex mechanical behavior in heterogeneous materials. Verification of material properties confirmed possibility to use examined material as a reinforcing element, what lead to construction of “PIAST” vehicle. The main theme of the article is to create mechanical, experimental characteristics and numerical simulation of multilayer foam, glass fibre and carbon fibre composite material. Experimental analysis confirmed extraordinary capabilities of multilayer structure with foam core and resin bonded skins. Using foam as sandwich core infill increases material rigidness and strength. At the same time it reduces mass in comparison to carbon fibre, reinforced with glass fibre composite material. Risk of skin dissection should be taken into account during construction design. In real engineering applications dissection should be eliminated or partially reduced by production technology improvement. The experiment results and numerical simulation results agrement can be achieved by proper constitutive modeling and adequate numerical techniques. Analysis of the location of damages, strains in the core and the formation of the delamination outside the skin can be taken into account using appropriate material models.