Study on the mechanical properties and optimization methods of high-strength high-modulus carbon fibre composite with the cap structure

Abstract

The application of high-strength, high-modulus carbon fiber with excellent properties such as high modulus, conductivity, and thermal conductivity has been increasingly widespread in aerospace flight, deep space exploration, and near-space vehicles. In recent years, with the continuous enhancement of functional requirements for products in these domains, there is a growing need to optimize the typical structure of such carbon fibers to enhance their load-bearing capacity. Therefore, in this study, we first conducted basic mechanical performance tests on specimens of T1100/5405 composite materials to obtain fundamental mechanical performance parameters of the material. Subsequently, compression and bending performance tests were performed on a typical hat-shaped structure to understand its actual load-bearing capacity and failure modes. The results indicate that the compressive failure load and bending failure load of the hat-shaped structure are 474.44 kN and 27.365 kN, respectively. Additionally, by combining the fundamental mechanical performance parameters of the composite material, the mechanical performance of the hat-shaped structure was simulated and verified using finite element analysis software, with the model validated using experimental data. Finally, layering parameters of the established finite element model were optimized, resulting in an increase of the structure’s load-bearing capacity under compression and bending loads to 662.629 kN and 31.9059 kN, respectively. In conclusion, the optimization approach presented in this paper for the T1100/5405 composite material’s hat-shaped structure is efficient. It yields noticeable improvements, significantly enhancing the load-bearing capacity of the typical structure in various application scenarios.