Sizing-stiffened composite panels loaded in the postbuckling range

Stiffened panels are widely used in aircraft structures such as wing covers, fuselages, control surfaces, spar webs, bulkheads, and floors. The detailed sizing of minimum-weight stiffened panels involves many considerations. Use of composite materials introduces additional complexities. Many potential modes of failure exist. Analyses for these modes are often not trivial, especially for those involving large out-of-plane displacements. Accurate analyses of all potential failure modes are essential. Numerous practical constraints arise from manufacturing/cost considerations and from damage tolerance, durability, and stiffness requirements. The number of design variables can be large when lamina thicknesses and stacking sequence are being optimized. A significant burden is placed on the sizing code due to the complex analyses, practical constraints, and number of design variables. On the other hand, sizing weight-efficient panels without the aid of an automated procedure is almost out of the question. The sizing code postbuckled Open-Stiffener Optimum Panels (POSTOP) has been developed to aid in the design of minimum-weight panels subject to the considerations mentioned above. Developed for postbuckled composite panels, POSTOP may be used for buckling resistant panels and metallic panels as well. The COPES/CONMIN optimizer is used in POSTOP although other options such as those in the ADS system could be substituted with relative ease. The basic elements of POSTOP are shown. Some of these elements and usage of the program are described

Design and analysis of a stiffened composite fuselage panel

The design and analysis of stiffened composite panel that is representative of the fuselage structure of existing wide bodied aircraft is discussed. The panel is a minimum weight design, based on the current level of technology and realistic loads and criteria. Several different stiffener configurations were investigated in the optimization process. The final configuration is an all graphite/epoxy J-stiffened design in which the skin between adjacent stiffeners is permitted to buckle under design loads. Fail safe concepts typically employed in metallic fuselage structure have been incorporated in the design. A conservative approach has been used with regard to structural details such as skin/frame and stringer/frame attachments and other areas where sufficient design data was not available

The general instability of eccentrically stiffened cylindrical shells under axial compression and lateral pressure

Instability of eccentrically stiffened cylindrical shells under axial compression and lateral pressur

Postbuckling behavior of graphite-epoxy panels

Structurally efficient fuselage panels are often designed to allow buckling to occur at applied loads below ultimate. Interest in applying graphite-epoxy materials to fuselage primary structure led to several studies of the post-buckling behavior of graphite-epoxy structural components. Studies of the postbuckling behavior of flat and curved, unstiffened and stiffened graphite-epoxy panels loaded in compression and shear were summarized. The response and failure characteristics of specimens studied experimentally were described, and analytical and experimental results were compared. The specimens tested in the studies described were fabricated from commercially available 0.005-inch-thick unidirectional graphite-fiber tapes preimpregnated with 350 F cure thermosetting epoxy resins

Analysis of infrared polarisation signatures for vehicle detection

Thermal radiation emitted from objects within a scene tends to be partially polarised in a direction parallel to the surface normal, to an extent governed by properties of the surface material. This thesis investigates whether vehicle detection algorithms can be improved by the additional measurement of polarisation state as well as intensity in the long wave infrared. Knowledge about the polarimetric properties of scenes guides the development of histogram based and cluster based descriptors which are used in a traditional classification framework. The best performing histogram based method, the Polarimetric Histogram, which forms a descriptor based on the polarimetric vehicle signature is shown to outperform the standard Histogram of Oriented Gradients descriptor which uses intensity imagery alone. These descriptors then lead to a novel clustering algorithm which, at a false positive rate of 10−2 is shown to improve upon the Polarimetric Histogram descriptor, increasing the true positive rate from 0.19 to 0.63. In addition, a multi-modal detection framework which combines thermal intensity hotspot and polarimetric hotspot detections with a local motion detector is presented. Through the combination of these detectors, the false positive rate is shown to be reduced when compared to the result of individual detectors in isolation

On Nichols algebras over PGL(2,q) and PSL(2,q)

We compute necessary conditions on Yetter-Drinfeld modules over the groups \mathbf{PGL}(2,q)=\mathbf{PGL}(2,\FF_q) and \mathbf{PSL}(2,q)=\mathbf{PSL}(2,\FF_q) to generate finite dimensional Nichols algebras. This is a first step towards a classification of pointed Hopf algebras with group of group-likes isomorphic to one of these groups. As a by-product of the techniques developed in this work, we prove that there is no non-trivial finite-dimensional pointed Hopf algebra over the Mathieu groups $M_{20}$ and $M_{21}=\mathbf{PSL}(3,4)$.Comment: Minor change

First report of Metarhizium anisopliae IP 46 pathogenicity in adult Anopheles gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis (Diptera; Culicidae).

The entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae isolate IP 46, originating from a soil sample collected in 2001 in the Cerrado of Central Brazil, was tested for its ability to reduce the survival of adult male and female Anopheles gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis mosquitoes. A 6-h exposure to the fungus coated on test paper at a concentration of 3.3 x 106 conidia cm-2 reduced the daily survival of both mosquito species (HR = 3.14, p < 0.001), with higher risk of dying in An. gambiae s.s relative to An. arabiensis (HR = 1.38, p < 0.001). Fungal sporulation was observed in >95% of mosquito cadavers in the treatment groups. The results indicate that M. anisopliae IP 46 has the potential to be a bio-control agent for African malaria vector species, and is a suitable candidate for further research and development

On Forecast Performance Using a Class of Weighted Moving Average Processes for Time Series

In this paper, we consider a class of weighted moving average models called the k-th moving average, the k-th weighted moving average and the k-th exponential weighted moving average models for modeling and forecasting economic time series data. Using real time series data set, we compare the ability of these various models to smooth the available data and also use an out of sample forecast performance to determine the best model among the various competitive models. Our findings is that the k-th exponential weighted moving average model performed best when all the three models where used to smooth our  time series data, while the k-th simple moving average model outperformed the others in terms of future forecasting. Keywords: k-th moving average; k-th weighted moving average; k-th exponential weighted moving average; forecastin

POSTOP: Postbuckled open-stiffener optimum panels, user's manual

The computer program POSTOP developed to serve as an aid in the analysis and sizing of stiffened composite panels that may be loaded in the postbuckling regime, is intended for the preliminary design of metal or composite panels with open-section stiffeners, subjected to multiple combined biaxial compression (or tension), shear and normal pressure load cases. Longitudinal compression, however, is assumed to be the dominant loading. Temperature, initial bow eccentricity and load eccentricity effects are included. The panel geometry is assumed to be repetitive over several bays in the longitudinal (stiffener) direction as well as in the transverse direction. Analytical routines are included to compute panel stiffnesses, strains, local and panel buckling loads, and skin/stiffener interface stresses. The resulting program is applicable to stiffened panels as commonly used in fuselage, wing, or empennage structures. The capabilities and limitations of the code are described. Instructions required to use the program and several example problems are included