Interlaminar shear test method development for long term durability testing of composites

The high speed civil transport is a commercial aircraft that is expected to carry 300 passengers at Mach 2.4 over a range of more than 6000 nautical miles. With the existing commercial structural material technology (i.e., aluminum) the performance characteristics of the high speed civil transport would not be realized. Therefore there has been a concerted effort in the development of light weight materials capable of withstanding elevated temperatures for long duration. Thermoplastic composite materials are such candidate materials and the understanding of how these materials perform over the long term under harsh environments is essential to safe and effective design. The matrix dominated properties of thermoplastic composites are most affected by both time and temperature. There is currently an effort to perform short term testing to predict long term behavior of in-plane mechanical properties E22 (transverse modulus of elasticity) and G12 (shear modulus). Out-of-plane properties such as E33, G13, and G23 are inherently more difficult to characterize. This is especially true for the out-of-plane shear modulus G23 and hence there is no existing acceptable standard test method. Since G23 is the most matrix dominated property, it is essential that a test method be developed. A shear test methodology is developed to do just that. The test method, called the double notched specimen, along with the previously developed shear gage was tested at room temperature. Mechanical testing confirmed the attributes of the methodology. A finite element parametric study was conducted for specimen optimization. Moire interferometry, a high sensitivity laser optical method, was used for full-field analysis of the specimen. From this work, material parameters will be determined and thus enable the prediction of long term material behavior of laminates subjected to general loading states

Through-the-thickness tensile strength of textile composites

A series of tests was run to characterize the through-the-thickness tensile strength for a variety of composites that included 2D and 3D braids, 2D and 3D weaves, and prepreg tapes. A new test method based on a curved beam was evaluated. The through-the-thickness deformations were characterized using moire interferometry. Failures were significantly different between the 2D and 3D materials. The 2D materials delaminated between layers due to out-of-plane tensile stresses. The strength of the 2D textile composites did not increase relative to the tapes. The 3D materials failed due to the formation of radial cracks caused by high circumferential stresses along the inner radius. A circumferential crack similar to the 2D materials produced the final failure. Final failure in the 3D materials occurred at a lower bending moment than in other materials. The early failures were caused by radial crack formation rather than low through-the-thickness strength

Paper Session II-A - Mixed-Mode Interfacial Fracture Toughness of Sandwich Composites at Cryogenic Temperatures

Honeycomb sandwich composites are found in a wide range of structural applications due to their high strength and stiffness-to-weight ratio compared to other systems. Current use of sandwich composites ranges from secondary structures in commercial aircrafts to primary structures in military aircraft, helicopters, and reusable launch vehicles, e.g. Space Shuttle. One of the applications of sandwich construction is in the liquid hydrogen tank of future RL V\u27s. Because of their low density and high stiffness sandwich construction is attractive for LH2 tank. However, past tests shave shown that leakage of hydrogen through the composite face sheet and subsequent de bonding of the face-sheet is a major concern in using sandwich construction. This problem can be eliminated by thorough understanding of the fracture mechanics of face sheets under cryogenic conditions. This study aimed to understand the failure phenomena of sandwich composites constructed from carbon fiber/epoxy composite face sheets and Nomex honeycomb cores. Both experiments including testing ·under cryogenic conditions and finite element analyses are performed to understand the conditions under which debonding occurs and propagates. One of the major objectives of the study is to measure the critical energy release rate or fracture toughness of the face-sheet/core interface, which will be a strong function of mode-mixity and temperature. Furthermore, mode-mixity itself will depend up on the geometric factors such as crack length, face sheet and core thickness, and material stiffness parameters. Fracture tests similar to double cantilever beams will be performed on sandwich panels containing initial delaminations. The fracture toughness will be measured for various crack lengths. The loads at which crack propagation occurs will be applied in the finite element model of the panel to obtain the detailed stress field in the vicinity of the crack tip. From the results of the fracture tests and finite element analysis the interfacial fracture toughness of the sandwich panel under cryogenic conditions can be measured. Application of the results to the design of a LH2 tank will be demonstrated

Bayesian Identification of Elastic Constants in Multi-Directional Laminate from Moir\'e Interferometry Displacement Fields

The ply elastic constants needed for classical lamination theory analysis of multi-directional laminates may differ from those obtained from unidirectional laminates because of three dimensional effects. In addition, the unidirectional laminates may not be available for testing. In such cases, full-field displacement measurements offer the potential of identifying several material properties simultaneously. For that, it is desirable to create complex displacement fields that are strongly influenced by all the elastic constants. In this work, we explore the potential of using a laminated plate with an open-hole under traction loading to achieve that and identify all four ply elastic constants (E 1, E 2, 12, G 12) at once. However, the accuracy of the identified properties may not be as good as properties measured from individual tests due to the complexity of the experiment, the relative insensitivity of the measured quantities to some of the properties and the various possible sources of uncertainty. It is thus important to quantify the uncertainty (or confidence) with which these properties are identified. Here, Bayesian identification is used for this purpose, because it can readily model all the uncertainties in the analysis and measurements, and because it provides the full coupled probability distribution of the identified material properties. In addition, it offers the potential to combine properties identified based on substantially different experiments. The full-field measurement is obtained by moir\'e interferometry. For computational efficiency the Bayesian approach was applied to a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the displacement fields. The analysis showed that the four orthotropic elastic constants are determined with quite different confidence levels as well as with significant correlation. Comparison with manufacturing specifications showed substantial difference in one constant, and this conclusion agreed with earlier measurement of that constant by a traditional four-point bending test. It is possible that the POD approach did not take full advantage of the copious data provided by the full field measurements, and for that reason that data is provided for others to use (as on line material attached to the article)

Development of test methods for textile composites

NASA's Advanced Composite Technology (ACT) Program was initiated in 1990 with the purpose of developing less costly composite aircraft structures. A number of innovative materials and processes were evaluated as a part of this effort. Chief among them are composite materials reinforced with textile preforms. These new forms of composite materials bring with them potential testing problems. Methods currently in practice were developed over the years for composite materials made from prepreg tape or simple 2-D woven fabrics. A wide variety of 2-D and 3-D braided, woven, stitched, and knit preforms were suggested for application in the ACT program. The applicability of existing test methods to the wide range of emerging materials bears investigation. The overriding concern is that the values measured are accurate representations of the true material response. The ultimate objective of this work is to establish a set of test methods to evaluate the textile composites developed for the ACT Program

The effects of specimen width on tensile properties of triaxially braided textile composites

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of the unit cell architecture on the mechanical response of textile reinforced composite materials. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of unit cell size on the tensile properties of 2D triaxially braided graphite epoxy laminates. The figures contained in this paper reflect the presentation given at the conference. They may be divided into four sections: (1) a short definition of the material system tested; (2) a statement of the problem and a review of the experimental results; (3) experimental results consist of a Moire interferometry study of the strain distribution in the material plus modulus and strength measurements; and (4) a short summary and a description of future work will close the paper

Estimating Distribution of Hidden Objects with Drones: From Tennis Balls to Manatees

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones, have been used widely in military applications, but more recently civilian applications have emerged (e.g., wildlife population monitoring, traffic monitoring, law enforcement, oil and gas pipeline threat detection). UAV can have several advantages over manned aircraft for wildlife surveys, including reduced ecological footprint, increased safety, and the ability to collect high-resolution geo-referenced imagery that can document the presence of species without the use of a human observer. We illustrate how geo-referenced data collected with UAV technology in combination with recently developed statistical models can improve our ability to estimate the distribution of organisms. To demonstrate the efficacy of this methodology, we conducted an experiment in which tennis balls were used as surrogates of organisms to be surveyed. We used a UAV to collect images of an experimental field with a known number of tennis balls, each of which had a certain probability of being hidden. We then applied spatially explicit occupancy models to estimate the number of balls and created precise distribution maps. We conducted three consecutive surveys over the experimental field and estimated the total number of balls to be 328 (95%CI: 312, 348). The true number was 329 balls, but simple counts based on the UAV pictures would have led to a total maximum count of 284. The distribution of the balls in the field followed a simulated environmental gradient. We also were able to accurately estimate the relationship between the gradient and the distribution of balls. Our experiment demonstrates how this technology can be used to create precise distribution maps in which discrete regions of the study area are assigned a probability of presence of an object. Finally, we discuss the applicability and relevance of this experimental study to the case study of Florida manatee distribution at power plants

Compression Pin Reinforcement of Delaminated Sandwich Beams Under Axial Pin Reinforcement of Delaminated Sandwich Beams under Axial Compression

ABSTRACT: The present study is concerned with translaminar reinforcements in a sandwich beam for preventing buckling of the delaminated face sheet under edge-wise axial compression. Sandwich beams consisting of graphite/epoxy face sheets and an aramid honeycomb core were reinforced in the thickness direction using two techniques: Z-pinning using graphite/epoxy pins and a novel "C-pinning technique" developed by the authors. To evaluate the effect of reinforcement type and reinforcement spacing on the ultimate compressive strength of delaminated beams, compression tests were performed. Critical buckling loads and post-buckling behavior of sandwich beams under axial compression were evaluated by finite element analysis to provide insight into the effectiveness of translaminar reinforcement. Pin reinforcement has been shown to significantly improve the ultimate compressive load of a delaminated sandwich beam

Simulation and Flight Control of an Aeroelastic Fixed Wing Micro Air Vehicle,” AIAA-20024875

Micro aerial vehicles have been the subject of continued interest and development over the last several years. The majority of current vehicle concepts rely on rigid fixed wings or rotors. An alternate design based on an aeroelastic membrane wing has also been developed that exhibits desired characteristics in flight test demonstrations, competition, and in prior aerodynamics studies. This paper presents a simulation model and an assessment of flight control characteristics of the vehicle. Linear state space models of the vehicle associated with typical trimmed level flight conditions and which are suitable for control system design are presented as well. The simulation is used as the basis for the design of a measurement based nonlinear dynamic inversion control system and outer loop guidance system. The vehicle/controller system is the subject of ongoing investigations of autonomous and collaborative control schemes. The results indicate that the design represents a good basis for further development of the micro aerial vehicle for autonomous and collaborative controls research