Variable twist torsion tests on carbon fibre composite beams

A detailed experimental programme of work is presented which examines the constrained torsional response of carbon fibre composite beams for the cantilevered configuration with torque applied at the free end. The behaviour of open-section beams and that of single-cell closed-section box beams is reported and discussed and the experimental findings are shown to corroborate simple engineering theoretical approaches. Tests have been carried out on zed and angle-section beams and thus the effects of primary and secondary warping restraint respectively on the torsional response of open-section beams are examined. The behaviour of zed-section beams is governed, in the main, by primary effects and that of angle-section beams is associated solely with secondary effects. The stress distributions along the beams and around the cross-sections are determined from the measured strains during test obtained from surface bonded strain gauges and comparison of these with theory is shown to be in good agreement. The essential differences in response to constrained torsion between open and closed-section beams are detailed in the paper and the importance of experimental tests in the analysis of composite structures is highlighted.     

The restrained torsional response of open section carbon fibre composite beams

The analysis procedure outlined in this paper essentially makes use of the existing isotropic theories of torsion suitability modified to account for the non isotropic nature of typical carbon fibre composite material.

The warping and St Venant torsional stiffnesses of the beams are determined using the appropriate equivalent engineering elastic constants of the composite material which correspond to the membrane and bending modes of action respectively.

The differential equation governing the constrained torsional equilibrium of the open section beams is solved exactly in the paper for Z and channel sections with some emphasis being given to the influence of ply stacking sequence.

Theoretical results are presented in graphical form and these depict the variations in warping displacement, warping shear flow and longitudinal or axial constraint force intensity with applied torque for the cantilever beam condition with torque applied at the free end.

The paper also gives details of finite element studies of the composite beams and of an experimental programme of work pertaining solely to the behaviour of composite Z beams.

Comparisons between theory, finite element and experiment are presented and these are seen to give exceptionally close agreement.

It is clearly indicated that fibre orientation significantly influences the restrained torsional behaviour of thin-walled open-section composite beams. It is also clear that the use of the appropriate equivalent engineering elastic material constants in the theory is able to closely predict actual behaviour.     

Instability of laminated composite thin-walled open-section beams

Instability of thin-walled open-section laminated composite beams is studied using the finite element method. A two-noded, 8 df per node thin-walled open-section laminated composite beam finite element has been used. The displacements of the element reference axis are expressed in terms of one-dimensional first order Hermite interpolation polynomials, and line member assumptions are invoked in formulation of the elastic stiffness matrix and geometric stiffness matrix. The nonlinear expressions for the strains occurring in thin-walled open-section beams, when subjected to axial, flexural and torsional loads, are incorporated in a general instability analysis. Several problems for which continuum solutions (exact/approximate) are possible have been solved in order to evaluate the performance of finite element. Next its applicability is demonstrated by predicting the buckling loads for the following problems of laminated composites: (i) two layer (45°/−45°) composite Z section cantilever beam and (ii) three layer (0°/45°/0°) composite Z section cantilever beam.     

点焊箱型截面薄壁构件的翘曲扭转研究

构成汽车车身结构的点焊薄壁构件,可以看成是开口截面段和闭口截面段相互穿插组合而成的半闭口截面构件。针对这种构件,基于瓦格纳的翘曲扭转理论,并考虑到点焊薄壁构件焊点处的弹性特性,用一条完整的具有剪切变形特性的“剪切弹簧”来取代构件上的点焊带。通过对这种具有“假想弹簧”的半闭口截面构件的研究,提出了一种分析点焊箱型截面薄壁构件的翘曲扭转的新方法。通过理论值与实验值之间的比较,验证了该方法的精度及合理性,并阐明了扭转刚度对点焊薄壁梁翘曲的影响。此研究同时为今后研究解决实际车体结构的多种约束翘曲问题,打下了良好的理论基础。     

Exact stiffness matrix of mono-symmetric composite I-beams with arbitrary lamination

The exact stiffness matrix, based on the simultaneous solution of the ordinary differential equations, for the static analysis of mono-symmetric arbitrarily laminated composite I-beams is presented herein. For this, a general thin-walled composite beam theory with arbitrary lamination including torsional warping is developed by introducing Vlasov’s assumption. The equilibrium equations and force–deformation relations are derived from energy principles. The explicit expressions for displacement parameters are then derived using the displacement state vector consisting of 14 displacement parameters, and the exact stiffness matrix is determined using the force–deformation relations. In addition, the analytical solutions for symmetrically laminated composite beams with various boundary conditions are derived as a special case. Finally, a finite element procedure based on Hermitian interpolation polynomial is developed. To demonstrate the validity and the accuracy of this study, the numerical solutions are presented and compared with the analytical solutions and the finite element results using the Hermitian beam elements and ABAQUS’s shell element.     

A C1 finite element for flexural and torsional analysis of rectangular piezoelectric laminated/sandwich composite beams

This work deals with the development of a new C¹ finite element for analysing the bending and torsional behaviour of rectangular piezoelectric laminated/sandwich composite beams. The formulation includes transverse shear, warping due to torsion, and elastic–electric coupling effects. It also accounts for the inter-layer continuity condition at the interfaces between layers, and the boundary conditions at the upper and lower surfaces of the beam. The shear strain is represented by a cosine function of a higher order in nature and thus avoiding shear correction factors. The warping function obtained from a three-dimensional elasticity solution is incorporated in the present model. An exact integration is employed in evaluating various energy terms due to the application of field consistency approach while interpolating the transverse shear and torsional strains. The variation of the electric potential through the thickness is taken care of in the formulation based on the observation of three-dimensional solution. The performance of the laminated piezoelectric element is tested comparing with analytical results as well as with the reference solutions evaluated using three-dimensional finite element procedure. A detailed study is conducted to highlight the influence of length-to-thickness ratio on the displacements, stresses and electric potential field of piezoelectric laminated beam structures subjected to flexural and torsional loadings. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

复合材料变截面旋转薄壁悬臂梁自由振动分析

基于拉格朗日方程推导出复合材料封闭变截面旋转薄壁梁的自由振动方程。与基于哈密顿原理的动力学建模方法相比,该文所采用的方法更为简洁。此外,在薄壁梁的结构模型中还考虑除横向剪切外的扭转、拉伸和弯曲引起的翘曲,具有考虑翘曲因素多的特点。给出了两种刚度配置下的变矩形截面旋转悬臂直梁的自由振动方程简化形式及其相应的迦辽金法求解的固有频率。基于大型通用有限元软件ANSYS,计算了薄壁变截面旋转悬臂梁的固有频率,并且与迦辽金法的求解结果进行了对比。分析了复合材料的弹性耦合、铺层角度、截面变化和旋转速度对薄壁梁的自由振动的影响。     

Optimal lay-up design of variable stiffness laminated composite plates by a layer-wise optimization technique

The optimal lay-up design for the maximum fundamental frequency of variable stiffness laminated composite plates is investigated using a layer-wise optimization technique. The design variables are two fibre orientation angles per ply. Thin plate theory is used in conjunction with a p-element to calculate the fundamental frequencies of symmetrically and antisymmetrically laminated composite plates. Comparisons with existing optimal solutions for constant stiffness symmetrically laminated composite plates show excellent agreement. It is observed that the maximum fundamental frequency can be increased considerably using variable stiffness design as compared to constant stiffness design. In addition, optimal lay-ups for the maximum fundamental frequency of variable stiffness symmetrically and antisymmetrically laminated composite plates with different aspect ratios and various combinations of free, simply supported and clamped edge conditions are presented. These should prove a useful benchmark for optimal lay-ups of variable stiffness laminated composite plates.     

Constrained torsional analysis of multi-cell composite tapered beams

The structural performance of multi-cell composite tapered beams when subjected to constrained torsional loading is examined in this paper. A simplified analytical procedure for determining the constrained torsional response of a specific class of multi-cell composite tapered beams is outlined in some detail. The constrained condition analyzed is that of the cantilevered multi-cell beam with torque applied at the free end of the beam. In order to avoid the elastic couplings in the beams between bending, torsion and axial effects, laminates are symmetrically layed-up about their own mid-planes in such a manner that they possess in-plane orthotropy. The analysis approach essentially makes use of the existing theories of torsion appropriate to isotropic constructions, which are suitably modified to account for the non-isotropic nature of composite material. The details of the finite element analysis are also included in the paper. The comparisons between the theory and finite element results are shown to give close agreement.     

Stiffness control in adaptive thin-walled laminate composite beams

The aim of this paper is to verify the control of the stiffness that is feasible to achieve in a thin-walled box-beam made from a laminate by including an adaptive material with variable stiffness. In this work, a material having a strongly varying Young Modulus under minor temperature changes was included in the cross-section. An analytical model was used to estimate the position of shear centre and the axial, bending, torsional, and shear stiffnesses of the cross-section. Two cross-sections were analysed, one with an adaptive wall and another with two adaptive walls. In both sections, the torsional stiffness could be strongly altered with minor temperature variations. In the section with one adaptive wall, the shear centre and thus the bending–twist coupling was also strongly modified. A study was made of the influence on the control of stiffnesses exerted by the overall cross-section thickness and the thickness of the adaptive walls.     

复合材料薄壁梁力学特性分析

综述了人们在建立研究复合材料薄壁梁力学特性的非线性梁理论及分析结构剖面特性,确立结构算子参数等方面所做的工作以及这些研究工作的特点。同时,结合作者的工作,介绍了近年来各国学者在复合材料薄壁梁力学特性研究上的进展。      

Frequency optimization of laminated composite angle-ply plates with circular hole

The fundamental frequencies of simply supported symmetrically laminated composite angle-ply plates with central circular holes with a given material system are maximized with respect to fibre orientations. The first-order shear deformation (FSDT) theory is used for finite element analysis. Modified feasible direction (MFD) method is used for the optimization routine. Also, the optimum fibre orientations are obtained using golden section (GS) method to compare with MFD method. Finally, the significant effects of different number of layers, boundary conditions, plate aspect ratios, hole diameter-to-width ratio, material anisotropy and antisymmetric lay-up on the results are demonstrated.     

Free vibration and buckling analysis of laminated composite plates using the NURBS-based isogeometric finite element method

An isogeometric finite element method based on non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) basis functions is developed for natural frequencies and buckling analysis of thin symmetrically laminated composite plates based upon the classical plate theory (CPT). The approximation of the solution space for the deflection field of the plate and the parameterization of the geometry are performed using NURBS-based approach. The essential boundary conditions are formulated separately from the discrete system equations by the aid of Lagrange multiplier method, while an orthogonal transformation technique is also applied to impose the essential boundary conditions in the discrete eigen-value equation. The accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed method are thus demonstrated through a series of numerical experiments of laminated composite plates with different boundary conditions, fiber orientations, lay-up number, eigen-modes, etc. The obtained numerical results are then compared with either the analytical solutions or other available numerical methods, and excellent agreements are found.     

Flexural-Torsional Buckling and Vibration Analysis of Composite Beams

In this paper the general flexural-torsional buckling and vibration problems of composite Euler-Bernoulli beams of arbitrarily shaped cross section are solved using a boundary element method. The general character of the proposed method is verified from the formulation of all basic equations with respect to an arbitrary coordinate system, which is not restricted to the principal one. The composite beam consists of materials in contact each of which can surround a finite number of inclusions. It is subjected to a compressive centrally applied load together with arbitrarily transverse and/or torsional distributed or concentrated loading, while its edges are restrained by the most general linear boundary conditions. The resulting problems are (i) the flexural-torsional buckling problem, which is described by three coupled ordinary differential equations and (ii) the flexural-torsional vibration problem, which is described by three coupled partial differential equations. Both problems are solved employing a boundary integral equation approach. Besides the effectiveness and accuracy of the developed method, a significant advantage is that the method can treat composite beams of both thin and thick walled cross sections taking into account the warping along the thickness of the walls. The proposed method overcomes the shortcoming of possible thin tube theory (TTT) solution, which its utilization has been proven to be prohibitive even in thin walled homogeneous sections. Example problems of composite beams are analysed, subjected to compressive or vibratory loading, to illustrate the method and demonstrate its efficiency and wherever possible its accuracy. Moreover, useful conclusions are drawn from the buckling and dynamic response of the beam.     

Multi-material topology optimization of laminated composite beam cross sections

This paper presents a novel framework for simultaneous optimization of topology and laminate properties in structural design of laminated composite beam cross sections. The structural response of the beam is evaluated using a beam finite element model comprising a cross section analysis tool which is suitable for the analysis of anisotropic and inhomogeneous sections of arbitrary geometry. The optimization framework is based on a multi-material topology optimization model in which the design variables represent the amount of the given materials in the cross section. Existing material interpolation, penalization, and filtering schemes have been extended to accommodate any number of anisotropic materials. The methodology is applied to the optimal design of several laminated composite beams with different cross sections. Solutions are presented for a minimum compliance (maximum stiffness) problem with constraints on the weight, and the shear and mass center positions. The practical applicability of the method is illustrated by performing optimal design of an idealized wind turbine blade subjected to static loading of aerodynamic nature. The numerical results suggest that the proposed framework is suitable for simultaneous optimization of cross section topology and identification of optimal laminate properties in structural design of laminated composite beams.     

Free vibration of composite beams including rotary inertia and shear deformation

Exact solutions are presented for the free vibration of symmetrically laminated composite beams. First-order shear deformation and rotary inertia have been included in the analysis. The solution procedure is applicable to arbitrary boundary conditions. Results have been presented to demonstrate the effect of shear deformation, material anisotropy and boundary conditions on the natural frequencies of advanced composite beams.     

考虑剪力滞效应的层合箱梁矩阵分析方法

给出了考虑剪力滞后及剪切变形效应条件下,复合材料薄壁层合箱梁静力行为控制微分方程组的初参数解。以此为基础,推导出了层合箱梁单元的刚度矩阵和等效结点荷载列阵,从而使薄壁层合箱梁的剪力滞、剪切变形效应分析方便地纳入了工程中广泛应用的矩阵位移法程序系统,为复合材料连续层合箱梁等复杂结构的强度及刚度分析提供了有效的计算手段。      

A new approach to the finite element modelling of beams with warping effect

As a first step toward developing a finite element formulation that can model coupling among extensional, bending and torsional behaviour of beams, a new method is proposed to properly represent the warping of arbitrary cross-sections. The basic approach is to introduce a small warping displacement superimposed over flat cross-sections of a shear-flexible beam in a deformed configuration. Numerical tests involving simple isotropic beams undergoing a small elastic displacement demonstrate the validity of the new approach. The present approach can be extended to composite beams as well as isotropic beams experiencing a large deflection or finite rotation.