Preliminary Design Of Composite Structures Research Articles

An extended invariant approach to laminate failure of fibre-reinforced polymer structures

AbstractThis paper presents the extension and validation of omni-failure envelopes for first-ply failure (FPF) and last-ply failure (LPF) analysis of advanced composite materials under general three-dimensional (3D) stress states. Phenomenological failure criteria based on invariant structural tensors are implemented to address failure events in multidirectional laminates using the “omni strain failure envelope” concept. This concept enables the generation of safe predictions of FPF and LPF of composite laminates, providing reliable and fast laminate failure indications that can be particularly useful as a design tool for conceptual and preliminary design of composite structures. The proposed extended omni strain failure envelopes allow not only identification of the controlling plies for FPF and LPF, but also of the controlling failure modes. FPF/LPF surfaces for general 3D stress states can be obtained using only the material properties extracted from the unidirectional (UD) material, and can predict membrane FPF or LPF of any laminate independently of lay-up, while considering the effect of out-of-plane stresses. The predictions of the LPF envelopes and surfaces are compared with experimental data on multidirectional laminates from the first and second World-Wide Failure Exercise (WWFE), showing a satisfactory agreement and validating the conservative character of omni-failure envelopes also in the presence of high levels of triaxiality.

A multi-scale two-level optimisation strategy integrating a global/local modelling approach for composite structures

In this work, a multi-scale optimisation strategy for the preliminary design of composite structures involving design requirements at different scales, is presented. Such a strategy, denoted as GL-MS2LOS, has been formulated by integrating a dedicated global-local (GL) modelling approach into the multi-scale two-level optimisation strategy (MS2LOS).The GL-MS2LOS aims at proposing a very general formulation of the design problem, without introducing simplifying hypotheses and by considering, as design variables, the full set of geometric and mechanical parameters defining the behaviour of the composite structure at each pertinent scale. By employing a GL modelling approach, most of the limitations of well-established design strategies based on analytical or semi-empirical models are overcome.The effectiveness of the presented GL-MS2LOS is proven on a meaningful study case: the least-weight design of a composite fuselage barrel of a wide-body aircraft undergoing various loading conditions and subject to requirements of different nature. Fully parametric global and local FE models are interfaced with an in-house metaheuristic algorithm to perform the optimisation. Refined local FE models are created only for critical regions of the structure, automatically detected during the global analysis, and linked to the global one thanks to the implementation of a sub-modelling approach. The general nature of the GL-MS2LOS allows finding an optimised configuration characterised by a weight saving of 40% when compared to an optimised aluminium solution obtained through a similar GL optimisation strategy.

An invariant-based performance-oriented procedure for preliminary design of composite structures

PurposeThis paper aims to present a systematic performance-oriented procedure to predict structural responses of composite layered structures. The procedure has a direct application in the preliminary design of aerospace composite structures evaluating the right and most effective material.Design/methodology/approachThe aforementioned procedure is based upon the definition of stiffness invariants. In the paper, the authors briefly recall the definition and the physical explanation of the invariants, i.e. the trace; then they present the scaling procedure for the selection of the best material for a fixed geometrical shape.FindingsThe authors report the basic principles of the scaling procedure and several examples pertaining typical responses sought in the preliminary design of aeronautic structuresResearch limitations/implicationsTypically, during early stages, engineers had to perform the daunting task of balancing among functional requirements and constraints and give the optimum solution in terms of structural concept and material selection. Moreover, preliminary design activities require evaluating different responses as a function of as less as possible parameters, ensuring medium to high fidelity. The importance of incorporating as much physics and understanding of the problem as early as possible in the preliminary design stages is therefore fundamental. A robust and systematic procedure is necessary.Practical implicationsThe time/effort reduction in the preliminary design of composite structures can increase the overall quality of the configuration chosen.Social implicationsReduction in design costs and time.Originality/valueIn spite of the well-known invariant properties of composites, the application and extension to the preliminary design of composite structures by means of a scaling rule is new and original.

Systematic Process Chain Creation for CFRP Structures in Early Product Development Stages

A planning method is presented which allows to systematically building process chains based on a preliminary design of composite structures. The method utilises the specific sequences of procedural steps that occur in the production of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) structures, to build sub process chains for each component of the structure. Process restrictions are considered to evaluate the suitability of different production processes. To obtain the whole process chain of the structure, different joining methods are applied in addition to combine the components and its sub process chains. The results of the presented method are used in an overarching development procedure to investigate resulting impacts on the solution. Possible impacts could be the production costs or the material characteristics.

Numerical investigation on the failure phenomena of stiffened composite panels in post-buckling regime with discrete damages

Abstract The aim of this work is to investigate the final failure response of damaged composite stiffened panels in post buckling regime under compressive load, by using progressive failure analysis (PFA) methodology. The selected panel is characterized by T shaped stringers and it is representative of the upper skin panel, toward the wing tip, of the wing box of a typical regional aircraft. PFA methodology has been applied in order to predict in addition to the initiation of the local failure also its propagation up to the final collapse of the panel, in presence of local damage (barely visible impact damage, BVID) and in post-buckling regime. For this purpose, discrete damages have been considered in the skin of the panel. According to the indications contained in many guidelines finalized to the preliminary design of composite structures, a simplified design model of BVID has been considered in this work, in particular a hole 1/4 in. in diameter has been used to simulate this damage. The collapse load of the panel has been evaluated considering different locations of a single damage and also considering multi-damage maps (the latter are more representative of a real damage scenario). The results of PFA presented in this work illustrate the combined effect of the reduction of the panel stiffness and of the damage propagation, and the sensitivity of the buckling onset and of the residual strength of the panel with respect to different damage locations and damage density.