Long discontinuous fiber composite structure: Forming and structural mechanics

Cost effective composite structure has motivated the investigation of several new approaches to develop composite structure from innovative material forms. Among the promising new approaches is the conversion of planar sheet to components of complex curvature through sheet forming or stretch forming. In both cases, the potential for material stretch in the fiber direction appears to offer a clear advantage in formability over continuous fiber systems. In the present study, the authors have established a framework which allows the simulation of the anisotropic mechanisms of deformation of long discontinuous fiber laminates wherein the matrix phase is a viscous fluid. The initial study focuses upon the establishment of micromechanics models for prediction of the effective anisotropic viscosities of the oriented fiber assembly in a viscous matrix. Next, the developed constitutive relation is employed through an analogy with incompressible elasticity to exercise the finite element technique for determination of local fiber orientation and laminate thickness after forming. Results are presented for the stretch bending of a curved beam from an arbitrary composite laminate and the bulging of a clamped sheet. Structural analyses are conducted to determine the effect of microstructure on the performance of curved beams manufactured from long discontinuous fiber composites. For the purposes of this study, several curved beams with ideal and non-ideal microstructures are compared for response under pure bending. Material parameters are determined from a separate microstructural analysis

Mechanically fastened joints in woven fabric composites

Strength analysis for composite bolted joints involves the mating of a stress analysis with an appropriate mode specific failure criterion for each of the primary failure modes. The stress analysis and failure criteria are independent of each other and can be manipulated separately in order to optimize the strength analysis package formed by their coupling. Material properties tests were conducted on rubber toughened graphite-epoxy material to measure the basic strength and stiffness in the warp and fill directions and in shear. Test matrices are summarized for investigations of laminate configuration, stacking sequence, fastener diameter, edge distance, fastener half spacing, laminate thickness, and fastener torque. A three dimensional finite element analysis computer program was written and failure criteria for net tension, shearout, and bearing were determined

Comparison of LC and LC/MS Methods for Quantifying N-Glycosylation in Recombinant IgGs

High-performance liquid chromatography (LC) and liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS) methods with various sample preparation schemes were compared for their ability to identify and quantify glycoforms in two different production lots of a recombinant monoclonal IgG1 antibody. IgG1s contain a conserved N-glycosylation site in the fragment crystallizable (Fc) subunit. Six methods were compared: (1) LC/ESI-MS analysis of intact IgG, (2) LC/ESI-MS analysis of the Fc fragment produced by limited proteolysis with Lys-C, (3) LC/ESI-MS analysis of the IgG heavy chain produced by reduction, (4) LC/ESI-MS analysis of Fc/2 fragment produced by limited proteolysis and reduction, (5) LC/MS analysis of the glycosylated tryptic fragment (293EEQYNSTYR301) using extracted ion chromatograms, and (6) normal phase HPLC analysis of N-glycans cleaved from the IgG using PNGase F. The results suggest that MS quantitation based on the analysis of Fc/2 (4) is accurate and gives results that are comparable to normal phase HPLC analysis of N-glycans (6)

Multi-Bunch Solutions of Differential-Difference Equation for Traffic Flow

Newell-Whitham type car-following model with hyperbolic tangent optimal velocity function in a one-lane circuit has a finite set of the exact solutions for steady traveling wave, which expressed by elliptic theta function. Each solution of the set describes a density wave with definite number of car-bunches in the circuit. By the numerical simulation, we observe a transition process from a uniform flow to the one-bunch analytic solution, which seems to be an attractor of the system. In the process, the system shows a series of cascade transitions visiting the configurations closely similar to the higher multi-bunch solutions in the set.Comment: revtex, 7 pages, 5 figure

JTEC panel report on advanced composites in Japan

The JTEC Panel on Advanced Composites visited Japan and surveyed the status and future directions of Japanese high performance ceramic and carbon fibers and their composites in metal, intermetallic, ceramic and carbon matrices. The panel's interests included not only what composite systems were chosen, but also how these systems were developed. A strong carbon and fiber industry makes Japan the leader in carbon fiber technology. Japan has initiated an oxidation resistant carbon/carbon composite program. The goals for this program are ambitious, and it is just starting, but its progress should be closely monitored in the United States

Establishing the relationship between manufacturing and component performance in stretch formed thermoplastic composites

Flexible manufacturing methods are needed to reduce the cost of using advanced composites in structural applications. One method that allows for this is the stretch forming of long discontinuous fiber materials with thermoplastic matrices. In order to exploit this flexibility in an economical way, a thorough understanding of the relationship between manufacturing and component performance must be developed. This paper reviews some of the recent work geared toward establishing this understanding. Micromechanics models have been developed to predict the formability of the material during processing. The latest improvement of these models includes the viscoelastic nature of the matrix and comparison with experimental data. A finite element scheme is described which can be used to model the forming process. This model uses equivalent anisotropic viscosities from the micromechanics models and predicts the microstructure in the formed part. In addition, structural models have been built to account for the material property gradients that can result from the manufacturing procedures. Recent developments in this area include the analysis of stress concentrations and a failure model each accounting for the heterogeneous material fields

Structural Framework for Flight: NASA's Role in Development of Advanced Composite Materials for Aircraft and Space Structures

This serves as a source of collated information on Composite Research over the past four decades at NASA Langley Research Center, and is a key reference for readers wishing to grasp the underlying principles and challenges associated with developing and applying advanced composite materials to new aerospace vehicle concepts. Second, it identifies the major obstacles encountered in developing and applying composites on advanced flight vehicles, as well as lessons learned in overcoming these obstacles. Third, it points out current barriers and challenges to further application of composites on future vehicles. This is extremely valuable for steering research in the future, when new breakthroughs in materials or processing science may eliminate/minimize some of the barriers that have traditionally blocked the expanded application of composite to new structural or revolutionary vehicle concepts. Finally, a review of past work and identification of future challenges will hopefully inspire new research opportunities and development of revolutionary materials and structural concepts to revolutionize future flight vehicles

Delamination growth in composite materials

The Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) and the End Notched Flexure (ENF) specimens are employed to characterize MODE I and MODE II interlaminar fracture resistance of graphite/epoxy (CYCOM 982) and graphite/PEEK (APC2) composites. Sizing of test specimen geometries to achieve crack growth in the linear elastic regime is presented. Data reduction schemes based upon beam theory are derived for the ENF specimen and include the effects of shear deformation and friction between crack surfaces on compliance, C, and strain energy release rate, G sub II. Finite element (FE) analyses of the ENF geometry including the contact problem with friction are presented to assess the accuracy of beam theory expressions for C and G sub II. Virtual crack closure techniques verify that the ENF specimen is a pure Mode II test. Beam theory expressions are shown to be conservative by 20 to 40 percent for typical unidirectional test specimen geometries. A FE parametric study investigating the influence of delamination length and depth, span, thickness and material properties on G sub II is presented. Mode I and II interlaminar fracture test results are presented. Important experimental parameters are isolated, such as precracking techniques, rate effects, and nonlinear load-deflection response. It is found that subcritical crack growth and inelastic materials behavior, responsible for the observed nonlinearities, are highly rate-dependent phenomena with high rates generally leading to linear elastic response

Delamination growth in composite materials

Research related to growth of an imbedded through-width delamination (ITWD) in a compression loaded composite structural element is presented. Composites with widely different interlaminar fracture resistance were examined, viz., graphite/epoxy (CYCOM 982) and graphite/PEEK (APC-2). The initial part of the program consisted of characterizing the material in tension, compression and shear mainly to obtain consistent material properties for analysis, but also as a check of the processing method developed for the thermoplastic APC-2 material. The characterization of the delamination growth in the ITWD specimen, which for the unidirectional case is essentially a mixed Mode 1 and 2 geometry, requires verified mixed-mode growth criteria for the two materials involved. For this purpose the main emphasis during this part of the investigation was on Mode 1 and 2 fracture specimens, namely the Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) and End Notched Flexure (ENF) specimens

Failure Mode Predictions in the Compressive Response of Laminated Composites

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106434/1/AIAA2013-1724.pd