A robust numerical approach for the simulation of skin–stringer debonding growth in stiffened composite panels under compression

In this paper, a numerical study on skin–stringer debonding growth in stiffened composite panels has been carried out. A novel numerical methodology is proposed here to investigate the compressive behaviour of a stiffened composite panel in the presence of skin–stringer partial separation. The novel numerical methodology, able to overcome the mesh size and time increment dependency of the standard Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT), is an evolution of a previously developed and tested numerical approach for the circular delaminations growth. The enhancements, with respect to the previously developed approach, rely mainly in the capability to deal with the different defect shapes characterising a skin–stringer debonding. The proposed novel methodology has been implemented in a commercial finite element platform and tested over single stiffener composite panels. The effectiveness of the suggested numerical methodology, in predicting the compressive behaviour of stiffened panels with skin stringer debondings, has been preliminary confirmed by comparisons, in terms of load versus applied displacement and debonding size at failure, with literature experimental data and numerical results obtained with the standard VCCT approach.     

Embedded delamination growth in composite panels under compressive load

In this paper, crack growth analyses on composite panels containing embedded delaminations has been performed using a geometrically non linear FEM code, based on the total Lagrangian formulation. The code has been improved with an effective virtual crack closure technique to evaluate energy release rate and with penalty method to evaluate contact forces. Validation of the proposed tool has been performed with experimental and numerical data available in the literature for double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens. Finally, the influence of the geometrical parameters of the delamination (size and location along the thickness) on the energy release rate distribution and delamination growth stability in composite panels under compression has been analyzed.     

Modelling delaminations in postbuckling stiffened composite shear panels

 A method has been developed to predict the effect of delaminations in a postbuckling stiffened structure manufactured from laminated composite materials. The emphasis of the technique, driven by aircraft certification requirements, was towards establishing whether delamination growth would initiate under given loading conditions. A geometric nonlinear finite element analysis was used to calculate the strain energy release rate around the circumference of a circular delamination using the virtual crack closure technique. In order to deal with the complex structural response in a computationally efficient manner, the structure was modelled using plate elements with two layers of plate elements used in the delaminated region. The effect of delamination size on the strength of postbuckling panels was shown to be a complex phenomenon in which trends were difficult to predict. Large delaminations could significantly affect the global and sub-laminate buckling modes and therefore be less critical than smaller delaminations. It was concluded that the method could accurately predict the load and location at which delamination growth would initiate, given suitable critical strain energy release rate data. Received 16 February 2000     

Positioning of Embedded Optical Fibres Sensors for the Monitoring of Buckling in Stiffened Composite Panels

A numerical/experimental study on the monitoring of the skin buckling phenomenon in stiffened composite panels by embedding optical fibres is presented in this paper. A numerical procedure has been introduced able to provide the most efficient embedded optical fibre path (with minimum length) fulfilling the grating sensors locations and directions requirements whilst satisfying specific embedding/integrity constraints for the optical fibre. The developed numerical procedure has been applied to a stiffened composite panel under compression load. The best location and direction of the grating sensors and the optimal optical fibre path for the monitoring of the skin buckling phenomenon have been found by performing respectively non-linear FEM analyses and optimization analyses. The procedure has been validated by means of an experimental testing activity on a stiffened panel instrumented with embedded optical fibres and back-to-back strain gauges which have been positioned according to the numerically estimated grating sensors locations and directions.     

Enhancing the resistance of composite sandwich panels to localized forces for civil infrastructure and transportation applications

This paper presents the details of an experimental and numerical study that was conducted to evaluate different methods of increasing the punching resistance of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite sandwich panels with balsa wood cores. A total of four large-scale panels were subjected to concentrated loads in a two-way bending configuration. Different techniques of locally stiffening the panels were investigated including bonding a steel coupling plate to the loaded surface of the panels and embedding steel tubes within the panel core. The experimental program was supplemented by a finite element study to evaluate the location, magnitude, and extent of stress concentrations in the panels. The experimental program demonstrated that the failure modes of the stiffened panels shifted from local punching to delamination of the loaded GFRP skin which initiated at the discontinuities of the panel stiffness. The finite element analysis indicated that the delamination failure was due to stress concentrations which formed at these critical locations. The local stiffening of the panel approximately tripled the concentrated load carrying capacity of the panels. The research findings suggest that, through careful design and detailing, composite sandwich panels can be used to resist large-magnitude concentrated loads such as those found in civil infrastructure and heavy freight transportation applications.     

考虑屈曲的复合材料加筋壁板铺层顺序优化

提出了一种考虑屈曲的复合材料加筋壁板铺层顺序优化方法。基于复合材料加筋壁板屈曲载荷求解的能量法,系统推导了轴压载荷作用下复合材料加筋壁板蒙皮、筋条局部屈曲载荷的显示表达式,考虑了加筋壁板各板元之间的弹性支持作用及筋条下缘条的影响,引入工程法求解了加筋壁板整体屈曲载荷。基于国产自主结构分析软件HAJIF中的复合材料铺层工程数据库,以铺层参数为中间变量,利用本文提出的复合材料加筋壁板屈曲载荷求解方法,构建了考虑屈曲的复合材料加筋壁板铺层顺序优化设计流程并完成程序实现,将最小二乘法用于最优铺层顺序与工程铺层数据库的匹配。相比于传统有限元计算方法,本文提出的复合材料加筋壁板屈曲载荷求解方法具备较好的求解精度及求解效率。复合材料加筋壁板优化算例表明,采用本文提出的加筋壁板屈曲载荷分析及其优化方法,在结构重量不变的前提下,屈曲载荷提高约17%,且铺层顺序优化结果可直接从铺层工程数据库中提取并用于工程实际。      

Formulation and assessment of an enhanced finite element procedure for the analysis of delamination growth phenomena in composite structures

An existing procedure based on the combined use of the Virtual Crack Closure Technique and of a fail release approach for the analysis of delamination growth phenomena in composite structures has been enhanced with a front-tracing algorithm and suitable expressions for the evaluation of the Strain Energy Release Rate when dealing with non-smoothed delamination fronts. The enhanced procedure has been implemented into a commercial finite element software by means of user subroutines and applied to the analysis of a composite stiffened panel with an embedded delamination under compressive load. The effectiveness and robustness of the enhanced procedure have been assessed by comparing literature experimental data and numerical results obtained by using different mesh densities in the damaged area (global/local approach).     

On the robustness of finite element procedures based on Virtual Crack Closure Technique and fail release approach for delamination growth phenomena. Definition and assessment of a novel methodology

Numerical procedures based on the combined use of the Virtual Crack Closure Technique and of a fail release approach have been widely used to simulate delamination growth phenomena of composite material structures. This paper starts explaining why this kind of methodologies might not be robust due to mesh and load step size dependency and introduces a novel approach able to cope with the problems identified. Finally the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed procedure, implemented into a commercial finite element software by means of user subroutines, are assessed by comparing the obtained numerical results for a delamination growth phenomenon against literature experimental data on a stiffened panel with a circular embedded delamination under compressive load.     

复合材料加筋板低速冲击损伤的数值模拟

建立了复合材料加筋板在横向低速冲击载荷作用下的渐进损伤有限元模型。该模型考虑了复合材料加筋板受低速冲击时的纤维断裂、基体开裂及分层脱粘等五种典型的损伤形式, 在层内采用应变描述的失效判据, 结合相应的材料性能退化方案, 通过编写VUMAT用户自定义子程序以实现相应损伤类型的判断和演化。在层间以及筋条与层板间加入界面元, 模拟层间区域的情况, 结合传统的应力失效判据和断裂力学中的能量释放率准则来判断分层损伤的起始和演化规律。通过对数值模拟结果与实验数据的比较, 验证了模型的合理性和有效性。同时探讨了不同位置、不同冲击能量以及含初始损伤(脱粘)等因素对复合材料加筋板低速冲击性能的影响。     

Prediction of post-buckling strength of stiffened laminated composite panels based on the criterion of mixed-mode stress intensity factors

An analytical investigation is conducted to predict the post-buckling strength of laminated composite stiffened panels under compressive loads. When a stiffened composite panel buckles, the skin would deform into a sinusoidal mode shape, and hence induces additional moments and forces near the skin-stiffener interface region. These induced loads would cause the existing small edge delamination cracks to propagate along the skin-stiffener interface, and this in turn would lead to the global failure of the stiffened panel. To reduce the cost of the analytical investigation, the failure of the stiffened panel under post-buckling loads is modeled in two stages: a global analysis to model the post-buckling behavior of the stiffened panel; and a local analysis to model the onset of propagation of the edge delamination crack at the skin-stiffener interface. The results from this study are compared with an experimental investigation conducted by Starnes, Knight, and Rouse (1987). It is found that for the eight different specimens that are considered in this study, the calculated critical energy release rate for the propagation of the edge delamination crack in each specimen differs substantially from those for the others; hence it may be concluded that the total energy release rate would not be a suitable fracture parameter for predicting the post-buckling strength of the stiffened panels. On the other hand, using the fracture criterion based on the critical mixed-mode stress intensity factors, the predicted post-buckling strength of the stiffened panels compares quite favorably with the experimental results and the standard deviation of the error of prediction is less than 10%. Furthermore, by applying the criterion of critical mixed-mode stress intensity factors on a simple damage model, the present analysis is able to predict the significant reduction in the post-buckling strenght of stiffened panels with a damage due to a low-speed impact at the skin-stiffener interface region.This work is supported by ONR, with Dr. Y. Rajapakse as the program official.     

The influence of ply sequence and thermoelastic stress field on asymmetric delamination crack growth behavior of embedded elliptical delaminations in laminated FRP composites

The influence of ply lay up and the interaction of residual thermal stresses and mechanical loading on the interlaminar asymmetric embedded delamination crack growth behavior have been investigated. Two sets of full three-dimensional thermo-elastic finite element analyses have been performed for the interlaminar elliptical delaminations, which may be due to manufacturing defects or other reasons and are located symmetrically with respect to the midplane in a quasi-isotropic FRP composite laminate lay up. Depending upon the through-the-thickness location of the embedded elliptical delaminations, four different laminate configurations have been considered. Strain energy release rate (SERR) procedures have been employed to assess the delamination crack growth characteristics at the interfaces. It is found that the individual fracture modes exhibit asymmetric and non self-similar crack growth behavior along the delamination front depending upon the location of the interfacial delaminations; ply sequence and orientation and thermo-elastic anisotropy of the laminae.     

复合材料帽型加筋板轴压试验及承载能力预测

随着复合材料的广泛使用,复合材料帽型加筋板在飞机结构上的使用也越来越多。为研究复合材料帽型加筋板承受轴向压缩的能力,首先对不同蒙皮半径、蒙皮厚度及长桁间距的复合材料帽型加筋板进行了轴压试验,得到了局部屈曲载荷、破坏载荷与加筋板曲率系数、长桁间距的关系,然后,通过引入曲率修正系数,修正了现有加筋板屈曲载荷的工程估算公式;最后,利用分段处理法结合有效宽度概念改进了加筋板轴压极限承载的工程算法。结果表明:帽型复合材料加筋板局部屈曲载荷及最终破坏载荷与曲率系数正相关;改进的方法能对复合材料加筋板的极限承载进行准确预测。所得结果表明该方法为复合材料加筋板结构设计及载荷估算提供了一种新方法,具有一定的工程应用价值。      

An extended layerwise/solid-element method of stiffened composite plates with delaminations and transverse crack

The stiffened composite plates with the transverse crack and delamination were studied in this paper, and an extended layerwise/solid-element (XLW/SE) method was developed. In the proposed method, the governing equations of composite plates and stiffeners were established based on the extended layerwise method and 3D solid elements, respectively. The final governing equation of stiffened composite plates is assembled by using the compatibility conditions and internal force equilibrium conditions at the joint interface between the plates and stiffeners. For the stiffened composite plates with damages, the XLW/SE method can obtain the local stress and displacement fields accurately and simulate the in-plane transverse cracks and delaminations simultaneously, considering complicated stiffeners without any assumptions. In the numerical examples, the results obtained by the proposed method are compared with those obtained by the 3D elastic models developed in the general finite element code, and the good agreements were achieved for the stiffened composite plates with/without delaminations and/or transverse crack.     

Evaluation of energy release rate for delamination defects at the skin/stringer interface of a stiffened composite panel

This paper deals with numerical investigation on a stiffened composite panel under longitudinal compression load, in presence of artificial delamination defects between skin/stringer interface layers.At first, both the experimental and numerical non-linear equilibrium paths were determined, until the failure load value of the structure was reached. Then local evaluation of the energy release rate parameter was performed at defect front, by means of a hybrid (FEM/analytical) procedure based on a particularized virtual crack closure technique. The same FE shell model was used to perform both global and local calculations by means of a single analysis.     

Fatigue crack growth analysis of stiffened cracked panel repaired with bonded composite patch

Fatigue crack growth behavior in a stiffened thin 2024-T3 aluminum panel repaired with one-sided adhesively bonded composite patch was investigated through experiments and analyses. The patch had three plies of unidirectional boron/epoxy composite. 2024-T3 aluminum stiffeners were riveted as well as bonded on the panel. Stiffeners were oriented in the loading direction and were spaced at either 102 mm or 152 mm with a crack centered between them. Also, un-repaired cracked panel with and without stiffeners were studied. Experiment involved tension-tension fatigue at constant amplitude with maximum stress of 120 MPa and stress ratio of 0.05. Bonded composite patch repair increased fatigue life about five-fold in the case of stiffened panels while it increased about ten fold in the case of un-stiffened panels. Fatigue life also increased with decrease of the distance between the stiffeners for both repaired and un-repaired panels. A three-dimensional finite element method was used to analyze the experiments. Residual thermal stresses, developed during patch bonding, requires the knowledge of temperature at which adhesive becomes effective in creating a bond between the structure and patch in the analysis. A simple method to estimate the effective curing temperature range is suggested in this study. The computed stress intensity factor versus measured crack growth relationships for all panel configurations were consistent and in agreement with the counterpart from the test material. Thus, the present approach provides a means to analyze the fatigue crack growth behavior of stiffened structures repaired with adhesively bonded composite patch.     

Compressive behaviour of thin-skin stiffened composite panels with a stress raiser

The in-plane compressive behaviour of thin-skin stiffened composite panels with a stress concentrator in the form of an open hole or low velocity impact damage is examined analytically. Drop weight impact in laminated polymer composites causes matrix cracking, delaminations and fibre breakage, which together can seriously degrade the laminate compressive strength. Experimental studies, using ultrasonic C-scan images and X-ray shadow radiography, indicated that the overall damage resembles a hole. Under uniaxial compression loading, 0° fibre microbuckling surrounded by delamination grows laterally (like a crack) from the impact site as the applied load is increased. These local buckled regions continued to propagate, first in discrete increments and then rapidly at failure load. The damage pattern is very similar to that observed in laminated plates with open holes loaded in compression. Because of this resemblance, a fracture mechanics model, developed initially to predict notched compressive strength, was applied to estimate the compression-after-impact (CAI) strength of a stiffened panel; in the analysis the impact damage is replaced with an equivalent open hole. Also, the maximum stress failure criterion is employed to estimate the residual compressive strength of the panel. The unnotched compressive strength of the composite laminate required in the analysis is obtained from a three-dimensional stability theory of deformable bodies. The influence of the stiffener on the compressive strength of the thin-skin panel is examined and included in the analysis. A good agreement between experimental measurements and predicted values for the critical failure load is obtained.     

A Method to Apply Structure Relevant Impact Damage to Small Structure Relevant Specimens for Damage Tolerance Studies

An approach is presented to represent stiffened composite panels by small but ‘structure relevant’ (SR) specimens in compression tests to study failure mechanisms. The necessary support conditions to be applied during low velocity impact tests were determined for the SR specimens in order to obtain damage that is similar to the damage found in stiffened panels. Fractography revealed that the locations of the major delaminations in the SR specimens due to impact were the same as in stiffened panels. These delaminations occurred where they were expected, suggesting that they can be ‘placed’ deep inside a laminate for optimum damage tolerance. Initial compression tests on stiffened panels confirmed the high damage tolerance of the configuration considered.     

含离散源损伤复合材料加筋板的拉伸特性

通过对含有离散源损伤的复合材料加筋板的拉伸试验和有限元模拟,研究了离散源损伤的损伤扩展与破坏特性。结果表明:复合材料加筋板的离散源损伤用穿透蒙皮切断桁条的切口来模拟是合适的,蒙皮上的穿透切口前端有很高的应力集中,桁条被切断导致加筋板传力路线改变;基于Hashin失效准则的渐进损伤有限元数值模拟方法,可以有效地模拟含切口加筋板的宏观损伤扩展和破坏过程,计算结果与试验值吻合较好。      

FML full scale aeronautic panel under multiaxial fatigue: Experimental test and DBEM Simulation

This paper concerns the numerical and experimental characterization of the static and fatigue strength of a flat stiffened panel, designed as a Fibre Metal Laminate (FML) and made of aluminium alloy and Fibre Glass FRP. The panel is full scale and was tested under both static and fatigue bi-axial loads, applied by means of an in house designed and built multiaxial fatigue machine. The strain gauge outcomes from a preliminary static test are compared with the corresponding numerical results, getting a satisfactory correlation. A crack propagation in the FML is simulated by a two dimensional original approach based on the Dual Boundary Element Method (DBEM). To overcome the lack of experimental information on the size of delamination area an “inverse” procedure is applied: the delamination introduced in the DBEM model is calibrated in such a way to minimise the numerical and experimental growth rate differences.This approach aims at providing a general purpose evaluation tool for a better understanding of the fatigue resistance of FML panels, providing a deeper insight into the role of fibre stiffness and of delamination extension on the Stress Intensity Factors. The experimental test was realized in the context of a European research project (DIALFAST).     

Buckling behavior of stiffened composite panels with variable thickness skin under compression

In this paper, the effect of the skin configuration on the buckling behavior of stiffened composite panels subjected to uniaxial compression was numerically and experimentally investigated. P-version finite element models containing all the structural details were used to predict the buckling load and buckling mode of stiffened composite panels. The upper and lower ends of the panel were fixed by potting a tin bismuth alloy with melting temperature around 70?°C to get an uniformly loading condition in the test. The alloy could be easily recycled by heating and reutilized later for potting the other test specimens.