Designing and compression behaviors of ductile hierarchical pyramidal lattice composites

To improve the ductility of lightweight cellular material, hierarchical pyramidal lattice truss composites were designed and manufactured. Rib of the hierarchical pyramidal lattice truss composite is made of glass fiber reinforced woven textile sandwich structure and designed weft-loaded. Flat-wise compression experiments were carried out to explore the strength and deformation mode of the hierarchical pyramidal lattice truss composite. Progressive crushing of the sandwich rib enables the hierarchical lattice composite to have a long stable deformation plateau. Stress of the deformation plateau of the hierarchical lattice composite is rather close to its strength, indicating that the hierarchical lattice composite would have excellent specific energy absorption, even better than aluminum lattice structures. The experiments reveal that the hierarchical structure makes the fiber reinforced lattice composite much more ductile and weight efficient in energy absorption.     

An experiment study on the failure mechanisms of woven textile sandwich panels under quasi-static loading

Quasi-static compression and three-point-bending tests were conducted to reveal the failure mechanisms and the energy absorption capacity of the woven textile sandwich material. The compression induces shear deformation due to the tilting of fiber piles within the core. The ductile load–displacement curves are featured by a long deformation plateau by plastic rotations of core piles. Densifications become apparent in the later stage of compression. In three-point-bending, skin crippling and shear failure dominate the load capacity of the thicker panels, while skin fracture dominates the thinner ones. After the initial failure, the progression of plastic hinges renders the panels residual load capacity in a long deflection plateau. The tests suggest that woven textile sandwich material is ideal to serve as an energy absorbing core.     

Ductile deformation mechanisms and designing instructions for integrated woven textile sandwich composites

To suggest designing instructions for integrated woven textile sandwich composites (IWTSCs), anti-crush properties of IWTSC and the corresponding ductile deformation mechanism were investigated. Quasi-static out-of-plane crushing and dynamic impact tests were carried out. Typical deformation curves with a relative stable deformation plateau were obtained from tests. Failure of IWTSC is ductile through coupled compression–shear deformation. An analytical plastic model was proposed to explain ductile mechanism of IWTSC qualitatively, including densification caused by interactions among inclined piles. Combining with qualitative analysis, comparisons between two kinds of IWTSC panels with piles of different density and thickness reveal the key to design a ductile IWTSC.     

Modelling and simulation of earthquake resistant 3D woven textile structural concrete composites

Concrete is a composite material composed of water, sand, coarse granular material called aggregate and cement that fills the space among the aggregate particles and glues them together. Conventional building structures are made up of steel skeleton with concrete impregnation. These are very heavy weight structures with steel vulnerable to corrosion. The conventional concrete structures tend to undergo large deformations in the event of a strong earthquake. Mechanical simulation of various textile structural concretes is carried out successfully for their ductility behaviour. 3D woven reinforced concretes display superior ductile character showing ray of hope to develop seismic resistant building. Simulation of three 3D woven fabrics and their composites was carried to predict ductility and strengths of fabric reinforced concrete structures. Maximum deformation was observed for beam reinforced with orthogonal interlock fabric under the same load and minimum deformation was observed for plain concrete. Maximum equivalent stress was observed to be highest for plain concrete followed by beam reinforced with angle interlock fabric followed by orthogonal fabric and warp interlock fabric under similar loading conditions. From the results it was clear that 3D fabric reinforced structures are more ductile than the traditional steel reinforced structures. Hence 3D fabric reinforced concrete structures are much better in strength and ductility as compared to conventional construction materials. Among the three 3D fabric, orthogonal fabric reinforced composites are most ductile and are also less stiff. They can deform more than the other two fabric composites. Hence, orthogonal fabric reinforced composites can undergo higher deformations without collapsing. These composites can be more elastic under earthquake shaking.     

Fiber-reinforced composite foam from expandable PVC microspheres

The properties of composite foam based on PVC expandable microspheres reinforced with continuous aramid fibers are described. The foam was fabricated by infiltrating low-density non-woven fiber webbing with PVC microspheres. The assembly was subsequently heated to expand the foam. The resulting composite foam consisted of 10 wt% aramid fibers and had a density of 100 kg/m³. Mechanical properties, crack propagation, and microstructure of composite foams were evaluated and compared with properties of similar unreinforced foam and with commercial PVC foam of comparable density. The influence of fiber concentration, fiber architecture and bonding was investigated also. Properties were measured in tension, shear, compression, and flexure using standard ASTM test methods. The composite foam performance equaled or surpassed the performance of most thermoplastic foams commercially available. The tensile strength and modulus of the composite foam increased by factors of 6 and 8, respectively, and the shear strength and modulus increased by factors of 1.8 and 2.4. The composite foam also exhibited improved strain energy density and damage tolerance, and reduced notch sensitivity.     

Efficiency of RC square columns repaired with polymer-modified cementitious mortars

This paper regards the axial behavior of reinforced concrete columns repaired by polymer-modified cementitious mortars. Tests were performed on eight columns with square cross-section: six were repaired with three types of polymer-modified cementitious mortars on all faces, two were in non-damaged and non-repaired condition (control elements). Tests were repeated varying mechanical properties (elastic modulus and compressive strength) of repair materials, maintaining the same repair thickness, including the reinforcement bars. Comparisons between repaired and control elements showed that polymer-modified cementitious mortars cannot restore the original load-bearing capacity of columns. In spite of this, selection of mortar mechanical properties plays a significant role. Among the three types of repair mortar tested in this experimental study, using the material with the most similar elastic modulus and higher compressive strength than that of the concrete substrate is recommended.     

Flexural impact response of textile-reinforced aerated concrete sandwich panels

Mechanical response of textile-reinforced aerated concrete sandwich panels was investigated using an instrumented three-point bending experiment under static and low-velocity dynamic loading. Two types of aerated concrete: autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) and polymeric Fiber-Reinforced Aerated Concrete (FRAC) were used as the core material. Skin layer consisted of two layers of Alkali Resistant Glass (ARG) textiles and a cementitious binder. Performance of ductile skin-brittle core (TRC–AAC) and ductile skin-ductile core (TRC–FRAC) composites was evaluated in terms of flexural stiffness, strength, and energy absorption capacity. The effect of impact energy on the mechanical properties was measured at various drop heights on two different cross-sections using energy levels up to 40 J and intermediate strain rates up to 20 s^− 1. The externally bonded textile layers significantly improved the mechanical properties of light-weight low-strength aerated concrete core under both loading modes. Dynamic flexural strength was greater than the static flexural strength by as much as 4 times. For specimens with larger cross-sections, unreinforced-autoclaved AAC core had a 15% higher apparent flexural capacity. With 0.5% volume of polypropylene fibers in the core, the flexural toughness however increased by 25%. Cracking mechanisms were studied using high speed image acquisition and digital image correlation (DIC) technique.     

Hybrid carbon fiber composite lattice truss structures

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite sandwich panels with hybrid foam filled CFRP pyramidal lattice cores have been assembled from linear carbon fiber braids and Divinycell H250 polymer foam trapezoids. These have been stitched to 3D woven carbon fiber face sheets and infused with an epoxy resin using a vacuum assisted resin transfer molding process. Sandwich panels with carbon fiber composite truss volumes of 1.5–17.5% of the core volume have been fabricated, and the through-thickness compressive strength and modulus measured, and compared with micromechanical models that establish the relationships between the mechanical properties of the core, its topology and the mechanical properties of the truss and foam. The through thickness modulus and strength of the hybrid cores is found to increase with increasing truss core volume fraction. However, the lattice strength saturates at high CFRP truss volume fraction as the proportion of the truss material contained in the nodes increases. The use of linear carbon fiber braids is shown to facilitate the simpler fabrication of hybrid CFRP structures compared to previously described approaches. Their specific strength, moduli and energy absorption is found to be comparable to those made by alternative approaches.     

聚乙烯醇纤维增强水泥复合材料板的冲切性能

利用MTS试验机对聚乙烯醇纤维(PVA)/水泥复合材料板进行准静态冲切试验,研究了不同PVA纤维掺量对其破坏形态和承载力的影响。结果表明:掺入PVA纤维能够将水泥基板的破坏形态由脆性破坏转为延性破坏。PVA/水泥复合材料板的冲切极限荷载和耗能能力均随PVA纤维掺量增加而增大,其中耗能能力的增大更显著。进一步采用Instron 落锤冲击系统对PVA纤维体积分数为2vol%的PVA/水泥复合材料板进行动力冲切试验,研究冲切速度(2.0~4.2 m/s)对PVA/水泥复合材料板的破坏形态、初裂荷载、极限荷载、初始刚度及耗能性能的影响。结果表明:与准静态试验相比,冲切荷载作用下PVA/水泥复合材料板的极限荷载增大,而耗能减少;此外相对初裂荷载和耗能,极限荷载的冲切速度相关性最显著。基于上述结果,构建了纤维增强水泥复合材料四线型拉伸本构模型,并通过反算模型和塑性铰线方法对纤维增强水泥复合材料板的冲切力学性能进行模拟,并得到材料的本构参数。本研究可以为PVA/水泥复合材料的抗冲切设计提供技术支撑。      

The effect of organic and inorganic fibres on the mechanical and thermal properties of aluminate activated geopolymers

The addition of fibres to a brittle matrix is a well-known method to improve the flexural strength. However, the success of the reinforcements is dependent on the interaction between the fibre and the matrix. This paper presents the mechanical and microstructural properties of PVA and basalt fibre reinforced geopolymers. Moreover low density and thermal resistant materials used as insulating panels are known be susceptible to damage due to their poor flexural strength. As such the thermal and fire resistance properties of foamed geopolymers containing fibre reinforcement were also investigated.The results highlight that the presence of PVA fibres greatly increased the flexural strength and the toughness of the geopolymer composite, while the presence of basalt fibres improved the flexural behaviour of the composite after high temperature exposure.     

FRP筋-钢筋增强ECC-混凝土组合柱抗震性能研究

提出一种在塑性铰区域采用高延性纤维增强水泥基复合材料(ECC)替代混凝土来改善FRP筋-钢筋增强混凝土柱抗震性能的新方法。对FRP筋-钢筋增强ECC-混凝土构件进行了低周往复荷载试验,系统地考察了基体材料、筋材种类、轴压比对构件破坏模态、裂缝模式、承载力、残余变形、延性和耗能能力的影响。结果表明,将ECC替代塑性铰区域混凝土能够有效避免FRP筋的受压屈曲,进而显著提升组合柱的抗震性能。与钢筋增强ECC-混凝土组合柱相比,复合筋增强ECC-混凝土组合柱的残余变形明显更小,且屈服后的刚度更高。随着轴压比的增大,构件极限强度升高但变形能力降低。通过有限元参数分析可知,组合柱的承载力和变形能力均随着ECC抗压强度及总配筋率的增大而增大;在总配筋率不变的情况下,FRP筋占比越高,构件的延性越好。     

Cryogenic through-thickness tensile characterization of plain woven glass/epoxy composite laminates using cross specimens: Experimental test and finite element analysis

This paper investigates the through-thickness tensile behavior of woven glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite laminates at cryogenic temperatures. Tensile tests were carried out with cross specimens at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K), and the through-thickness elastic and strength properties of the woven GFRP laminates were evaluated. The failure characteristics of the woven GFRP laminates were also studied by optical and laser scanning microscopy observations. A three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed to calculate the stress distributions in the cross specimens, and the failure conditions of the specimens were examined. It is found that the cross specimen is suitable for the cryogenic through-thickness tensile characterization of laminated composite materials. In addition, the through-thickness Young's modulus of the woven GFRP composite laminates is dominated by the properties of the matrix polymer in the given temperature, while the tensile strength is characterized by both, the fiber to matrix interface energy and the cohesion energy of the matrix polymer.     

Response of thin-skinned sandwich panels to contact loading with flat-ended cylindrical punches: Experiments,numerical simulations and neutron diffraction measurements

The response of aluminium foam-cored sandwich panels to localised contact loading was investigated experimentally and numerically using flat-ended cylindrical punch of four varying sizes. ALPORAS and ALULIGHT closed-cell foams of 15 mm thickness with 0.3 mm thick aluminium face sheets (of 236 MPa yield strength) were used to manufacture the sandwich panels. Face sheet fracturing at the perimeter of the indenter, in addition to foam cells collapse beneath the indenter and tearing of the cell walls at the perimeter of the indenter were the major failure mechanisms of the sandwich panels, irrespective of the strength and density of the underlying foam core. The authors employed a 3D model in ABAQUS/Explicit to evaluate the indentation event, the skin failure of the face sheets and carry out a sensitivity study of the panel's response. Using the foam model of Deshpande and Fleck combined with the forming limit diagram (FLD) of the aluminium face sheet, good quantitative and qualitative correlations between experiments and simulations were achieved. The higher plastic compliance of the ALPORAS led to increased bending of the sheet metal and delayed the onset of sheet necking and failure. ALULIGHT-cored panels exhibited higher load bearing and energy absorption capacity, compared with ALPORAS cores, due to their higher foam and cell densities and higher yield strength of the cell walls. Additionally, they exhibited greater propensity for strain hardening as evidenced by mechanical testing and the neutron diffraction measurements, which demonstrated the development of macroscopically measurable stresses at higher strains. At these conditions the ALULIGHT response upon compaction becomes akin to the response of bulk material with measurable elastic modulus and evident Poisson effect.     

Compression and impact testing of two-layer composite pyramidal-core sandwich panels

Quasi-static uniform compression tests and low-velocity concentrated impact tests were conducted to reveal the failure mechanisms and energy absorption capacity of two-layer carbon fiber composite sandwich panels with pyramidal truss cores. Three different volume-fraction cores (i.e., with different relative densities) were fabricated: 1.25%, 1.81%, and 2.27%. Two-layer sandwich panels with identical volume-fraction cores (either 1.25% or 2.27%), and also stepwise graded panels consisting of one light and one heavy core, were investigated under uniform quasi-static compression. Under quasi-static compression, load peaks were identified with complete failure of individual truss layers due to strut buckling or strut crushing, and specific energy absorption was estimated for different core configurations. In the impact test, the damage resulting from low-velocity concentrated impact was investigated. Our results show that compared with glass fiber woven textile truss cores, two-layer carbon fiber composite pyramidal truss cores have comparable specific energy absorptions, and thus could be used in the development of novel light-weight multifunctional structures.     

Mechanical behavior of Kevlar/basalt reinforced polypropylene composites

In this study, mechanical behavior of thermoplastic composites reinforced with two-dimensional plain woven homogeneous and hybrid fabrics of Kevlar/basalt yarns was studied. Five types (two homogeneous and three hybrids) of composite laminates were manufactured using compression molding technique with polypropylene (PP) resin. Static tensile and in-plane compression tests were carried out to evaluate the mechanical properties of the laminates. The tension and in-plane compression tests had shown that the composites with the combination of Kevlar and basalt yarns present better tensile and in-plane compressive behavior as compared to their base composites. Improvement in the properties such as elastic modulus, strength and failure strain in both tension and in-plane compression was observed due to the hybridization. Numerical simulations were performed in ABAQUS/Standard by implementing a user-defined material subroutine (VUMAT) based on Chang-Chang criteria. Good agreement between the experimental and numerical simulations was achieved in terms of damage patterns.     

Mechanical properties and debonding strength of Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) systems for masonry strengthening

Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) composites are advanced cement-based materials often used for strengthening masonry or concrete structures. The system is usually composed of a dry grid of fibers embedded in a cementitious matrix enriched with short fibers.An important parameter for designing the structural reinforcement is the tensile load-bearing capacity of FRCM composites. For their heterogeneity, FRCM composites show an interesting mechanical behavior in tension, that depends on the properties of the components and of the bonding strength. These values could be estimated with mechanical models but must be validated experimentally by means of proper testing campaigns.In this work several FRCM materials made with different fiber grids were investigated. Four different types of fibers were considered: polyparaphenylene benzobisoxazole (PBO), carbon (C), glass (G) and PBO and glass (PBO-G) fibers and three different types of cementitious mortars.The behavior of FRCM under tension and the influence of the bond properties between the dry textile and the inorganic matrix are studied developing an extensive experimental program that included the characterization both of the materials components and of the composites. A series of push–pull double lap tests and pull-off tests were performed to determine the bonding properties of FRCM composites applied to masonry structures.The paper presents results and considerations that can provide background data for future recommendations for the use of FRCM systems in the rehabilitation of elements.     

Flax and polyparaphenylene benzobisoxazole cementitious composites for the strengthening of masonry elements subjected to eccentric loading

To address the structural problems caused by eccentric loads in unreinforced masonry, three different types of masonry were prepared based on clay bricks bonded with a natural hydraulic lime mortar combined with a flax or polyparaphenylene benzobisoxazole (PBO) fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) composite. The mechanical behaviour when subjected to concentric and eccentric loads was studied by performing axial compression tests, with eccentric load tests only carried out in instances of large eccentricities. Analysis of the load–displacement and moment–curvature response revealed that both the flax- and PBO-based strengthening systems improve the strength and deformability of masonry. However, compared to the PBO fabric composite, the use of flax fabric provides a greater deformability that helps prevent the composite and substrate debonding.     

Effects of thermal exposure on mechanical behavior of carbon fiber composite pyramidal truss core sandwich panel

An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of high temperature exposure on mechanical properties of carbon fiber composite sandwich panel with pyramidal truss core. For this purpose, sandwich panels were exposed to different temperatures for different times. Then sandwich panels were tested under out-of-plane compression till failure after thermal exposure. Our results indicated that both the thermal exposure temperature and time were the important factors affecting the failure of sandwich panels. Severe reductions in residual compressive modulus and strength were observed when sandwich panels were exposed to 300 °C for 6 h. The effect of high temperature exposure on failure mode of sandwich panel was revealed as well. Delamination and low fiber to matrix adhesion caused by the degradation of the matrix properties were found for the specimens exposed to 300 °C. The modulus and strength of sandwich panels at different thermal exposure temperatures and times were predicted with proposed method and compared with measured results. Experimental results showed that the predicted values were close to experimental values.     

Compression and bending performances of carbon fiber reinforced lattice-core sandwich composites

To restrict debonding, carbon fiber reinforced lattice-core sandwich composites with compliant skins were designed and manufactured. Compression behaviors of the lattice composites and sandwich columns with different skin thicknesses were tested. Bending performances of the sandwich panels were explored by three-point bending experiments. Two typical failure mechanisms of the lattice-core sandwich structures, delaminating and local buckling were revealed by the experiments. Failure criteria were suggested and gave consistent analytical predictions. For panels with stiff skins, delamination is the dominant failure style. Cell dimensions, fracture toughness of the adhesives and the strength of the sandwich skin decide the critical load capacity of the lattice-core sandwich structure. The mono-cell buckling and the succeeding local buckling are dominant for the sandwich structures with more compliant skin sheets. Debonding is restricted within one cell in bending and two cells in compression for lattice-core sandwich panels with compliant face sheets and softer lattice cores.     

Modeling and predicting the compression strength limiting mechanisms in Z-pinned textile composites

Motivated by experimental results on Z-pinned plain weave glass fiber textile composites that show kink banding of fiber tows to be a strength limiting mechanism of failure in compression, computational results are presented for the effects of Z-pin diameter and Z-pin density on compression strength. Distortion to the textile fiber tows introduced by the insertion of Z-pins is found to be the dominant cause for initiating kink bands while the type of bond between the Z-pin and the surrounding matrix is found to influence the post-kinking response. When the Z-pin diameter remains unchanged, the composite strength decreases as the Z-pin density increases, while, when the Z-pin density is fixed, the composite strength decreases as the Z-pin diameter decreases in agreement with experimental observations.