Experimental study on behavior of GFRP stiffened panels under compression

Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) materials are extensively used in the aerospace and marine industries because of their high strength and stiffness to weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance. Stiffened panels are commonly used in aircraft wing and fuselage parts. The present study focuses on the behavior of composite stiffened panels under compressive loading. With the introduction of stiffeners to unstiffened composite plates, the structural stiffness of the panel increases resulting in higher strength and stiffness. Studies in the past have shown that the critical structural failure mode under compressive loading of a stiffened composite panel is by local buckling. The present study attempts to evaluate the mechanical behavior of composite stiffened panels under compression using blade stiffener configuration and in particular on the behavior of the skin- stiffener interface through experimental testing. A novel test fixture is developed for experimental testing of GFRP stiffened panels. A non-contact whole field strain analysis technique called digital image correlation (DIC) is used for capturing the strain and damage mechanisms. Blade stiffeners increased the strength, stiffness and reduced the out-of plane displacement at failure. The failure of both the unstiffened and stiffened panels was through local buckling rather than through material failure. DIC was able to capture the strain localization and buckling failure modes