Delamination buckling and postbuckling in composite cylindrical shells under combined axial compression and external pressure

A series of finite element analyses on the delaminated composite cylindrical shells subject to combined axial compression and pressure are carried out varying the delamination thickness and length, material properties and stacking sequence. Based on the FE results, the characteristics of the buckling and postbuckling behaviour of delaminated composite cylindrical shells are investigated. The combined double-layer and single-layer of shell elements are employed which in comparison with the three-dimensional finite elements requires less computing time and space for the same level of accuracy. The effect of contact in the buckling mode has been considered, by employing contact elements between the delaminated layers. The interactive buckling curves and postbuckling response of delaminated cylindrical shells have been obtained. In the analysis of post-buckled delaminations, a study using the virtual crack closure technique has been performed to find the distribution of the local strain energy release rate along the delamination front. The results are compared with the previous results obtained by the author on the buckling and postbuckling of delaminated composite cylindrical shells under the axial compression and external pressure, applied individually.     

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.     

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.     

碳纤维布加固钢筋混凝土梁的试验分析

本试验预制了6根混凝土适筋梁,梁净跨1.8 m,加固方法采用直接粘贴碳纤维布并沿试件长度方向等间距布置,两端未加任何锚固措施。采用竖向静力两点加载体系,合适的剪跨,采用改变混凝土强度、碳纤维布的粘结层数等参数进行了较系统的试验。测得的主要试验数据有:梁跨中挠度、加载千斤顶荷载、梁底纵筋跨中的应变、碳纤维布应变分布与受拉钢筋的应变分布。