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Applied Composite Materials: An International Journal for the Science and Application of Composite Materials (v.18, #6)

Guest Editor’s Note by Ahmad Varvani-Farahani (pp. 467-469).

Nonlinear Viscoelastic Response of Unidirectional Polymeric Laminated Composite Plates Under Bending Loads by S. R. Falahatgar; Manouchehr Salehi (pp. 471-483).

Nonlinear bending analysis of polymeric laminated composite plate is examined considering material nonlinearity for viscoelastic matrix material through a Micro–macro approach. The micromechanical Simplified Unit Cell Method (SUCM) in three-dimensional closed-form solution is used for the overall behavior of the unidirectional composite in any combination of loading conditions. The elastic fibers are transversely isotropic where Schapery single integral equation in multiaxial stress state describes the matrix material by recursive-iterative formulation. The finite difference Dynamic Relaxation (DR) method is utilized to study the bending behavior of Mindlin annular sector plate including geometric nonlinearity under uniform lateral pressure with clamped and hinged edge constraints. The unsymmetrical laminated plate deflection is predicted for different thicknesses and also various pressures in different time steps and they are compared with elastic finite element results. As a main objective, the deflection results of viscoelastic laminated sector plate are obtained for various fiber volume fractions in the composite system.

Keywords: Micro–macro approach; Nonlinear viscoelastic composite; Mindlin sector plate; DR method

Approximate Torsional Analysis of Multi-layered Tubes with Non-circular Cross-Sections by Benyamin Gholami Bazehhour; Jalil Rezaeepazhand (pp. 485-497).

In this paper an approximate formulation for torsional analysis of tubes with multi-layered non-circular cross-sections is presented. A previously presented method based on Bredt’s theory is extended to achieve these formulas. Layers are assumed to be isotropic and may possess different thicknesses and material properties. The obtained formulas for shear stress and angle of twist are applicable to thin to moderately thick closed cross-sections. It is shown that depending on the properties of the layers, maximum shear stress does not necessarily happen on the outer boundary. Furthermore, the effect of different cross-sectional shapes on torsional response is studied. Using the presented method, one can achieve desirable shear stresses and angles of twist for a polygonal multi-layered tube with a proper choice of bluntness. The method can be extended for torsion problem of FGM tubes as well. The presented formulas for torsion problem are relatively accurate and suitable to be implemented in optimization programs.

Keywords: Torsional analysis; Multi-layered tubes; Non-circular cross-section; Imaginary strips

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Mixed-Mode Interlaminar Fracture of Carbon-Polyester Laminated Woven Composite by Using Arcan Set-up by Mohammad Hossein Heydari; Naghdali Choupani; Moharram Shameli (pp. 499-511).

Composite materials are widely used in marine, aerospace and automobile industries. These materials are often subjected to defects and damages from both in-service and manufacturing process. Delamination is the most important of these defects. This paper reports investigation of mixed-mode fracture toughness in carbon–polyester composite by using numerical and experimental methods. All tests were performed by Arcan set-up. By changing the loading angle, α, from 0° to 90° at 15° intervals, mode-I, mixed-mode and mode-II fracture data were obtained. Correction factors for various conditions were obtained by using ABAQUS software. Effects of the crack length and the loading angle on fracture were also studied. The interaction j-integral method was used to separate the mixed–mode stress intensity factors at the crack tip under different loading conditions. As the result, it can be seen that the shearing mode interlaminar fracture toughness is larger than the opening mode interlaminar fracture toughness. This means that interlaminar cracked specimen is tougher in shear loading condition and weaker in tensile loading condition.

Keywords: Mixed-mode fracture; Fracture toughness; Laminated woven composite; Crack; Arcan set-up

Damage Detection in a Composite Plate Using Modal Analysis and Artificial Intelligence by M. R. Nasiri; M. J. Mahjoob; A. Aghakasiri (pp. 513-520).

The use of composite materials has vastly increased in recent years. Great interest is therefore developed in the damage detection of composites using non-destructive test methods. Several approaches have been applied to obtain information about the existence, location and growth of the faults. The main goal in this paper is to use the vibration response of a composite plate to detect and localize delamination defect based on the frequency response and modal analysis. The features extracted are used as the input data in an artificial intelligence scheme to identify the severity of the damages. Experiments are then conducted to validate the developed model.

Keywords: Composite plate; Damage detection; Modal analysis; Artificial intelligence; Neural network

Dynamic Finite Element Analysis of Extensional-Torsional Coupled Vibration in Nonuniform Composite Beams by Seyed M. Hashemi; Andrew Roach (pp. 521-538).

The application of a Dynamic Finite Element (DFE) technique to the extensional-torsional free vibration analysis of nonuniform composite beams, in the absence of flexural coupling, is presented. The proposed method is a fusion of the Galerkin weighted residual formulation and the Dynamic Stiffness Matrix (DSM) method, where the basis functions of approximation space are assumed to be the closed form solutions of the differential equations governing uncoupled extensional and torsional vibrations of the beam. The use of resulting dynamic trigonometric interpolation (shape) functions leads to a frequency dependent stiffness matrix, representing both mass and stiffness properties of the beam element. Assembly of the element matrices and the application of the boundary conditions then leads to a frequency dependent nonlinear eigenproblem, which is solved to evaluate the system natural frequencies and modes. Two illustrative examples of uniform and tapered cantilevered, Circumferentially Uniform Stiffness (CUS), hollow, composite beams are presented. The influence of ply fibre-angle on the natural frequencies is also studied. The correctness of the theory and the superiority of the proposed DFE over the contrasting DSM and conventional FEM methods are confirmed by the published results and numerical checks. The discussion of results is followed by some concluding remarks.

Keywords: Composite CUS Beam; Coupled vibrations; Torsion-extension couplings; FEM; DSM; DFE

Dynamic Stability Optimization of Laminated Composite Plates under Combined Boundary Loading by Erfan Shafei; Mohammad Zaman Kabir (pp. 539-557).

Dynamic stability and design optimization of laminated simply supported plates under planar conservative boundary loads are investigated in current study. Examples can be found in internal connecting elements of spacecraft and aerospace structures subjected to edge axial and shear loads. Designation of such elements is function of layup configuration, plate aspect ratio, loading combinations, and layup thickness. An optimum design aims maximum stability load satisfying a predefined stable vibration frequency. The interaction between compound loading and layup angle parameter affects the order of merging vibration modes and may stabilize the dynamic response. Laminated plates are assumed to be angle-plies symmetric to mid-plane surface. Dynamic equilibrium PDE has been solved using kernel integral transformation for modal frequency values and eigenvalue-based orthogonal functions for critical stability loads. The dictating dynamic stability mode is shown to be controlled by geometric stiffness distributions of composite plates. Solution of presented design optimization problem has been done using analytical approach combined with interior penalty multiplier algorithm. The results are verified by FEA approach and stability zones of original and optimized plates are stated as final data. Presented method can help designers to stabilize the dynamic response of composite plates by selecting an optimized layup orientation and thickness for prescribed design circumstances.

Keywords: Laminated composite; Dynamic stability; Optimization; Load combination; Analytical method; FEA

Damage Assessment of CFRP [90/±45/0] Composite Laminates over Fatigue Cycles by G. R. Ahmadzadeh; A. Shirazi; A. Varvani-Farahani (pp. 559-569).

The present paper develops a stiffness-based model to characterize the progressive fatigue damage in quasi-isotropic carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) [90/±45/0] composite laminates with various stacking sequences. The damage model is constructed based on (i) cracking mechanism and damage progress in matrix (Region I), matrix-fiber interface (Region II) and fiber (Region III) and (ii) corresponding stiffness reduction of unidirectional plies of 90°, 0° and angle-ply laminates of ±45° as the number of cycles progresses. The proposed model accumulates damages of constituent plies constructing [90/±45/0] laminates by means of weighting factor η ₉₀, η ₀ and η ₄₅. These weighting factors were defined based on the damage progress over fatigue cycles within the plies 90°, 0° and ±45° of the composite laminates. Damage model has been verified using CFRP [90/±45/0] laminates samples made of graphite/epoxy 3501-6/AS4. Experimental fatigue damage data of [90/±45/0] composite laminates have fell between the predicted damage curves of 0°, 90° plies and ±45°, 0/±45° laminates over life cycles at various stress levels. Predicted damage results for CFRP [90/±45/0] laminates showed good agreement with experimental data. Effect of stacking sequence on the model of stiffness reduction has been assessed and it showed that proposed fatigue damage model successfully recognizes the changes in mechanism of fatigue damage development in quasi-isotropic composite laminates.

Keywords: Fatigue damage; Stiffness degradation; CFRP [90/±45/0] composite layup; Matrix cracking; Stacking sequence

Fatigue Debonding Analysis of Repaired Aluminium Panels by Composite Patch using Interface Elements by Hossein Hosseini-Toudeshky; Ali Jasemzadeh; Bijan Mohammadi (pp. 571-584).

Repaired panels with composite patches subjected to fatigue loading may fail due to the progressive debonding between the composite patch and aluminium panel. The objective of this paper is to study the initiation and propagation of a possible fatigue debonding in the adhesive layer while the crack also growths in the panel for single-side repaired aluminium panels. For this purpose three dimensional finite elements method with a thin layer solid like interface element is employed. Fracture mechanics approach is used for the analysis of crack growth in aluminium panel and the interface elements with fatigue constitutive law for mixed mode debonding growth in the adhesive layer. A user element routine and a damage model material routine were developed to include the interface element and to simulate the initiation and propagation of damage in adhesive layer under cyclic loading. It is shown that, the debonding propagation and crack growth rate of the repaired panels depend on the composite patch material and interface bonding properties significantly. It is also shown that using of patch material with higher elastic module leads to the faster damage or debonding growth in the adhesive layer during the fatigue loading.

Keywords: Debonding; Fatigue; Cohesive element; Composite patch; Repair

A Dynamic Transient Model to Simulate the Time Dependent Pultrusion Process of Glass/Polyester Composites by Mahmood M. Shokrieh; Ashkan Mahmoud Aghdami (pp. 585-601).

The objective of this paper is to introduce a novel dynamic transient model to simulate the time dependent pultrusion process of glass/polyester composites. The model is able to simulate the resin curing process systematically. The resin curing process is divided in two liquid and gel-solid phases. Physical properties of the resin including resin specific heat, viscosity and thermal conductivity change by altering the resin temperature and the degree of cure. It is shown that in liquid and gel-solid phases, some of the resin physical properties have significant role in heat transfer phenomenon and affect simulation results. The physical and mechanical properties of fibers do not change during the curing process of composites; therefore, an equivalent material is introduced instead of the resin-fiber compound. The model simulates the heat generation during the resin curing process. The degree of cure of the resin, used for the resin viscosity calculation, is an important parameter indicating the final stage of simulation of resin curing process. The components of the model are integrated in a finite element method. As case studies, the process of pultrusion of circular, rectangular and I cross-sections are simulated by the model. The results show that the model is able to simulate the pultrusion process very well.

Keywords: Pultrusion process; Simulation; Glass/polyester composites; Resin cure

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Applied Composite Materials: An International Journal for the Science and Application of Composite Materials (v.18, #6)