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Moisture absorption and effect on composite properties: Reason mechanical properties degrade
with moisture absorption. When aircraft operating at temps below 0 degrees, the water absorbed
will freeze and expand, causing delamination. Surface flaws cause failure for fibres. When water is in
composite, it can seep into the crack, and through a chemical reaction, causing an increase in the
size of the surface flaw, decreasing the strength of that fibre filament. Prolonged exposure to water
may cause polymer to undergo hydrolysis, which will break the matrix apart. Once properties of
composite are lowered, the glass transition temperature is also lowered. USUALLY IN HUMID
CONDITIONS – HOT AND WET ENVIRONMENT.
BVID – How do delaminations lead to failure? When a laminate is under impact, it can undergo
delamination which causes significant reduction in compressive strength. Say a delamination or a
crack forms due to impact, when under a compressive load, it will most likely fail due to buckling.
the slenderness ratio determines critical buckling load. Delamination separates laminate, leading to
thin sections, causing micro buckling, which then leads to global buckling, causing compressive
strength to reduce and laminate to fail. Microbuckling will also cause kink bends, which can cause
the laminate to fail via shear. Failure due to shear is more likely for thick laminates, resistance to
microbuckling is lower than that of kink failure due to shear.
Sizing agent – A sizing agent is used to improve bonding between fibre and matrix. It is a thin coating
applied around fibre, and has properties which are not of the fibre or of the matrix, but somewhere
between the two. Acts as a coupling agent and helps to bond the matrix and the fibre. Coating also
helps in reducing surface flaws due to handling. Protects the fibre during mechanical handling.
Coatings or emulsifier is usually water based, where filaments are passed through, then goes into an
oven where water is dried off and sizing agent is kept on.
Toughen matrix
- Silica/rubber in matrix
- Use nano particles
- Infuse thermosets with thermosets
- Z-pins: enhances through thickness properties l Can change this by changing the volume
fraction of z pins, more z-pins = better through thickness properties. Reduction in in-plane is
not as severe as 3D braiding. However, Z-pins suffer from pull out when there are cracks.
Once you apply stress beyond interfacial strength value, causing z pin to de-bond from
matrix and pull out. Reduces in plane properties as it causes damage to plies by puching
through. Can control diameter of stitches and z-pins. If z-pins are too thin, they will not be
able to be inserted into matrix. If pins are too thin, they will buckle.
- 3D weaving:
- 3D braiding: severely reduces in plane properties (most out of all methods), but provides
with best through thickness reinforcement. Fibre used to carry load moves up between
layers, being used as through thickness reinforcement
- 3D stitching: Doesn’t suffer by pull out like Z-pins, as it is like an anchor. It will only fail
through tension causing fracture. Diameter of stitch can be reduces a lot, which will cause
less damage and reduce in-plane properties less
Downside of through thickness reinforcement is that they have a negative effect on in-plane
properties.
Why is the fracture toughness of the matrix and fibre separately don’t add up to that of the
composite
Failure of fibre will be governed by largest surface flaw seen on that fibre. If one of the fibres
was to fail, still have other fibres with small surface flaw still intact. For single fibre, when filure
strength is reached, the single fibre will fail. Due to the different failure strengths of fibres.
Average failure for in-plane is higher than that of a single fibre, as there will be fibres which will
have higher stresses. strength shear lag, stresses can be transmitted through the polymer
between fibre reinforcements, increasing
Single fibre filament embedded in resin. Iniitially when stress is applied to composite, no
debonding as fibre is attached to matrix. However interfacaila strength has a limit As stress is
increased, it eventually becomes higher than that of the interfacial strength of the matrix. When
this happens, there is debonding and fibre tries to pull out. This causes a momentary reducton
in stress once the debond has happened. However the fibre is not a perfectly circular cylinfder,
so it will still have friction on the walls, which causes fibres to pull out slowly, which dissipates
energy and is the reduction after the initial decrease in curve. Provides additional fracture
toughness. This happens if composite has fibre pull out failure.
BOOK
Glass composites
- Not used in structural components due to low stiffness, high density and poor fatigue
performance. Fatigue performance reduced in humid environments, as moisture gets
absorbed by composite, leading to larger surface flaws and reduced strength and stiffness.
This also reduces glass transition temperature. Low thermal conductivity too
- High impact strength. Moisture also weakens fibre matrix interface, reducing mechanical
properties
Aramid Composites
- Have anisotropic properties due to Aramid. Strong covalent bonds in one direction and weak
hydrogen bonds in the other give anisotropic properties.
- Extremely low compressive strength
- high impact damage resistance due to non-ilinear compression behaviour and high strain to
failure under compression
- favourable dielectric properties – used in radar domes.
- Must be stored In low humidity conditions or dried before use due to high 6% moisture
absorption
- Difficult to machine due to high toughness.
- High vibration damping from non-linear deformation of fibres in compression
- Suited for pressure vessels due to excellent tensile properties and resistance to mechanical
damage.
Carbon Fibres
- High impact damage resistance of glass and aramid are due to their high-strain capacity of
fibres when loaded in the fibre direction.
- High energy impacts cause through-penetration and local delaminations.
- Low energy impacts do not cause penetration, but can cause BVID and internal
delaminations.
- Woven fibres show less internal damage than unidirectional, because damage growth
between layers is constrained by the weave.
Moisture Absorption
- Reduces mechanical properties. Does this by increasing size of surface flaws in fibres and
degrading matrix. Occurs via diffusion of moisture into composite
- Plasticizes the matrix, leading to a reduction in the glass transition temperature.
- GTT is important quantity because it defines the temperature at which material properties
are drastically reduced as the matrix changes from a glassy, stiff state to a rubbery one.
- Therefore moisture absorption will have a greater effect on the elevated temperature
properties of a composite, as it reduces the glass transition temp. Properties at ambient
conditions should be relatively similar.
- At high altitudes, water trapped in cracks and/or voids can freeze and expand, leading to
delamination.
- Thermal spiking is exposing a composite with high moisture content to rapid rises in
temperature.
- Moisture absorption will increase stress by generating microcracks
- Failure of single element will result in load being carried by other members.
Adhesive bonding
- Single lap: cheapest, but loads are offset so it generates a secondary bending moment.
Resulting in severe peel stresses.
- Double lap: no primary bending moment. Small peel stresses due to unbalanced shear
stresses. Peel and shear stresses can be reduced by tapering ends of joint
- Scarf & step-lap: develop negligible peel stresses and may be used to join composite
components of any thickness.
- Lap joints not used because of concerns with long-term environmental durability.
- Manufacturing defects and service damage defects occur in adhesive layer. These include
disbanded regions, porosity, locally thinned regions
- During manufacture, excessive adhesive may flow out of the ends of the joints, due to little
resistance to flow of adhesive. In this case, there will only be a porus adhesive layer left
behind.
- Increasing length of steps In step lap joints increases load carrying capacity
- To avoid overloading thin steps, must reduce step length
- Peel stresses not an issue because of alignment of primaru loads and small thickness change
at ends of each step
Structural Adhesives
- Failure within adhesive is cohesive failure, and rrepresents maximum fracture resistance (i.e
requires most energy). Failure at adherend/adhesive interface is adhesive failure and is not
an optimum mode of failure, and results from inadequate pre-bonding surface preparation
- Want failure in adhesive rather than composite
- Mode I (peel failure) is of most concern for adhesives.
- Fatigue strength of interface will be maximum when interface of fibre layers all orientated in
same direction as major load. This fibre orientation will inhibit any cracks in adhesive layer
from entering the weaker composite interface. Fibre orientation will have less influence if
layer of matrix resin on surface is present because this will become preferred path for crack
propagation (resin rich layer). At 0 deg orientation, crack grew and stayed in adhesive. At 45,
crack grew in adhesive and propagated caused delamination between 45 deg plies. At 90
deg, ply damage initiated by transverse cracking in ply, then cgrew through delaminations
and cracking near +- 45 deg pliesand then delam between 0 and 45 deg plies.
- At elevated temps, damage growth only in adhesive. At low temps, damage grew in
composite matrix.
- Moisture can plasticise matric, reducing mechanical properties, especially at elevated temps
- Reduce glass transition temp
- Damage adherend/adhesive interface through chemical reaction or physical displacement of
adhesive by water.
- Provide residual stresses by causing swelling or cracking of adhesive
- Weaken joint through chemical reactions
- Best is grit blasting with alumina or silicon carbide particles. Provides clean, uniform, high-
energy surface
Mechanical/bolted joints
- Can be disassembled
- No thickness limitations
- No residual stress issues
- Not sensitive to peel stresses and provides through thickness reinforcement
- High stress concentrations
- Fatigue cracking
- Damage to composite by drilling hole
- Corrosion, and composite’s poor bearing properties
- Lower cost
- Excessive shimming to reduce composite damage
- Low cost tooling and inspection
- Fastener holes cut fibres, destroying load paths
- Only feasible and/or economic means of joining highly loaded thick composite components.
Design considerations
- Load transfer accomplished by compression (bearing) on face of holes passing through the
joint members by shear of the fasteners.
- Load transferred through friction on face of joint if clamping factors are sufficient
- High clamping forces required to develop high friction forces to maximize bearing strength.
- Might not be possible to maintain these clamping forces due to wear under service loads
and damage on composites.
- Bearing failure results in hole elongation, allowing bending and subsequent fatigue of bolt or
substructure. Altternatively, faster head can pull through laminate (problem with
countersunk fasteners).
- For large w/d and e, failure occurs through bearing failure
- For low w/d, failure/de occurs via tensile failure. Joint strength – 0 when w/d = 1.
- For low e/d, shear filure occurs. Joint strength = 0 when e/d = 0.5
- Quasi isotropic preferred as non 0 fibres carry load around hole to prevent shear or cleavage
failures. 0 fibres carry primary bending and tension loads. Desired failure mode is net
tension or compression, but bailuing failure may be preferred in some situations.
- Stress concentration factors considered. Highest for 0 degree orientation, lowest for +- 45.
Stress conc factor decreases as +- 45 plies are increased.
- Two failure criterions: Avg stress – where failure happens when average value of tensile
strength across characteristic length from hole reaches unnotched failure strength of
laminate. Point stress – where failure happens when local value of stress at characteristic
distance from hole reaches unnotched failure strength
- Characteristic length and distance are material properties
- w/d of atleas 5 and e/d of atleast 3 so joint srrength isn’t limited by tensile or shear-out
failure
- quasi isotropic optimum config for optimum strength in mechanical joints
- For brittle materials, max strength of 21% of that of a virgin material reached at d/w = 0.4.
for composites, tension to bearing occurs at d/w of 0.3. For comp, max strength eff is 40%,
and is 65% for metal
- Compressive strength higher than tension because some of the load can be transferred to
the fastener.
Bearing failure
- In carbon/epoxy composites, bearing failure occurs by local buckling and kinking of fibres
and subsequent crushing of the matrix.
- Bearing strength is strongly dependent on degree of constraint (clamping stress) provided by
fastener on properties of matrix.
- Bearing strength initially increases with amount of 0 degree plies. But when 0 degree plies
exceeds 60% of total laminate plies, failure through splitting occurs because transverse
strength is too low to prevent shear failure. Optimum bearing strength for 0/+-45 occurs at
50% 0 and 50% +-45
- Matrix softening can reduce high local loads through better contact of fastener with hole.
- Loss in bearing strength in joints at elevated temperatures can be reduced by maintaining
high local constraint through bolt clamping
Multi row joints
- Main reason for using these is to minimise peak bearing load, avoiding cut-off due to bearing
failure.
- To do this, even load must be carried by each joint. Flexible fasteners provide this (metals,
ductile materials).
- Under tension or compression, failure initiates sin regions of high stress concentrations such
as matrix mirocracking and local disbanding of fibres from matrix. This damage reduces in
plane stress conc and increases residueal strength. Localised damage increases until it
results in intrelaminar cracking, leading to delaminations
- Under tension, delaminations is beneficial as it keeps damage llocalised.
- Under compression, loss og section in stiffness can lead to buckling failure of remaining
material.
- Double shear preferred as symmetrical oading minimises bending and fastener rotation
- Single shear joints have lower joint strengths, but used when access is limited to one side
during assembly
- Strength loss can be minimised if joint is supported
- Often used with countersunk fasteners to maintain aero smoothness.
- However this causes problems: fastener rotation due to unsymmetrical loading and
reduction in bearing area in fastener hole cause by countersunk
- Under extreme loading or hole elongation under cyclic loading, pull out of fastener or failure
of fastener head can occur
Hole prep
Hole strengthening
Component alignment
Rotorcraft Applications
- For blades, need to resist tension from centrifugal forces, shear from torsion and bendning.
- Use of honeycomb:
o Problem is moisture ingress into core
o Causes corrosion and bond separation in Aluminium honeycomb
o Cause de-bonding due to water freezing and expanding at high altitude
o Want to use sealant or films and adhesives such to protect honeycomb structure
from moisture absorption
o More prone to impact damage
o Can used closed cell foam cores, but they have low melting temps
o Great bending resistance and extremely light
Manufacturing Defects
Impact Damage
Bird Strikes
- In composite fan blades and leading edges, it must be demonstrated that a bird strike will
not impair safe continued flight and landing.
Lightning effects
Design methodologies
- Static strength
o DLL: no failure or unacceptable deformations. Usually the max load anticipated in
service
o DUL: no failure, although permanent deformation possible (=1.5*DLL)
- Fatigue Strength
o Safe life: no cracking that can lead to failure should occur in the life of airframe
o Fail safe: Structure must be damage tolerant. So cracks can occur, but they will grow
slowly and not cause failure for the fll life of the structure or will not cause failure
before planned inspection. Or cracking can occur but won’t reduce strength beelow
acceptable level before it’s detected. Can use alternative load paths for this, where if
one load path fails, load is redistributed to the other laod paths.
Durability/economic requirement:
- For the life of the airframe, damage requiring costly repairs will not occur due to fatigue or
corrosion. Not a regulatory airworthiness req mandated by airworthiness authority
Tests
- Coupon
o Generate generic material database (100’s of tests)
o Material A and B allowables
o Allowable values measured at critical temp/moisture conditions and room temp
o Provide knockdown factors
- Structural elements
o More complex than coupon, so more costly and less number of tests (50)
o Generate generic failure data base
o Represent all failure modes
o Check calculation rules
- Structural Details
o More complex than elements, so more costly, less tests (10)
o Check damage tolerance
o Confirm allowables at worst environmental conditions
o Open and filled hole tension and comp and bolt bearing
o Out of plane loading
- Sub comp
o More complex and costly than details. Less test (4)
o Check for unexpected failure modes
o Compare with element and detail tests
- Component
o More complex and costly than sub-comp. Less tests (2)
o Check strain levels against failure strains
o Demonstrate airworthiness compliance
- Aircraft
o Most complex, most expensive, usually only 1 or 2 tests
o Check strain levels
o Demonstrate airworthiness compliance
Static strength allowables
- A-allowable: value achieved by 99% of population at 95% confidence. Use for materials with
low scatter, such as airframe alloys as it offers greatest MoS
- B-allowable: value achieved by 90% of population at 95% confidence level. Used where
scatter is large, thus used for composites due to relatively high scatter on strength
Fatigue Allowables
- Coupons and elements tested under constant amplitude and under spectrum loading of
expected in-service loads.
- Tests also done at elevated temps with coupons moisturised
- Knockdown factors from static allowables is usually enough to account for in-plane strength
degradation via static loading
Damage Influence
Proof Test
Impact damage
FRACTURE PROCESSES
- Fracture is a process which causes initiation and growth of a crack, which can cause the
material to break at a stress below its UTS.
- Cracks produced during processing of aerospace material and manufacture of aircraft
- Defects in aircraft include delamination cracks, interfacial cracks, voids and dry spots
- Cracks can initiate in regions of high stress in material
- Cracks can grow due to overstressing, fatigue cycling, corrosion damage during operation of
an aircraft, leading to catastrophic damage, bird impacts, lightning, hail etc.
- To minimise inspection costs, more damage tolerant structural materials needed, which
resist crack growth
- Damage tolerance is the ability for a structure to stay in service and operate safely within
the presence of cracks or other damage.
Modes of fracture
- Brittle fracture
o Little to no plastic deformation at crack tip
o Size of plastic zone is extremely small.
o Force needed to grow crack decreases as it gets longer
o Rupture of interatomic bonds ahead of crack. Provides a fracture surface that can be
close to atomically flat, called the cleavage fracture
- Fracture of composites
o Don’t have a plastic zone
o Dependant on microstructure of composite and loading direction
o In plane fracture
Involves cracking in direction normal to fibres
More resistant to crack extension than initerlaminar
Amount of energy required to grow crack in-plane much higher than that of
interlaminar
In-plane toughness is higher than that of the fibre or polymer on their own.
This is due to crack growth being resisted by various failure processes that
occur near the crack tip and along the crack wake
Involves ccrack extension by plastic deformation and rupture of polymer
matrix and failure of fibres. As two faces of crack separate, fibres can pull
out.
Crack tip is often deflected along fibre direction, as it follows weak
interfaces between fibres and matrix. These splitting cracks reduce crack
growth of the main crack
Fibre failure and fibre pull out absorb greatest amount of energy and
provide greatest resistance against in plane fracture, whereas failure of
polymer and fibre-matrix slitting results in less resistance
o Interlaminar
Cracking parallel to fibres
Cracking in fibre direction between ply layers (delamination fracture). Crack
grows in polymer rich regionds between plies.
Low amount of energy needed for crack growth
Ointerlaminar fracture occurs easier
Glass Fibres
Aramid fibres
Dry fabrics
Sandwich composites
MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES
Manual layup
- Cutting prepreg to stack, removing backing paper and handstacking onto tool surface
- Slow, labour intensive and inconsistent
- Prepreg laid up by hand onto tool, with fibre plies orientated in load bearing directions.
- Plies need to be symmetric to prevent warping or distortion
- After being handstacked, then vacuum bagged to remove air between layers. Prepreg stack
sealed in plastic bad which air is removed from using vacuum pump, conforming bag to
shape of prepreg
- Release film and bleeder layer places over stack. Release film prevents prepreg from sticking
to bleeder cloth and bleeder cloth absorbs excess resin during consolidation
- Prepreg consolidated and cured in autoclave
- Used to manufacture carbon-epoxy prepreg for both military and commercial aircraft.
- Used for wing skins, tilt rotor wing skins, stabiliser skins etc.
- Much quicker than manual layup
- Computer controlled head deposits tape onto tool surface as a fast rate and high degree of
accuracy
- AS tape is laid down, head removes backing paper and applies compaction force to prepreg
- Can also apply heat to prepreg to improve formability
- Tape automatically cut by blades within the head when it reaches location where pl
terminates. Lay’s up prepregsin controlled steps with high degree of accuracy
- Consistent shape, thickness and part quality. After ATL is complete, prepreg is consolidated
and cured.
- Capable of producing parts which are flat or SLIGHTLY CURVED
- Automated fibre process better for highly contoured parts
- Moderate size composite components (3m) such as fan blades or ribs etc.
- Closed mould process
- Fabric placed inside cavity between two matched moulds
- Fabric plies stacked inside mould, which is sealed and clamped
- Liquid resin injected by a pump, with resin flowing through open spaces of fabric until
completely filled
- Resin must have a low enough viscosity so that it can flow through small fabric haps.
- After injection, mould is heated to gel and cure the polymer matrix to form a solid
composite part
- Produce composites with high fibre vol % (65%)
- Issue is that it can be ahrd to completely infuse all of fabric with resin, and can leave dry
spots or voids in composite. To minimise this, can use Vacuum assisted resin transfer
moulding
- VARTM a vacuum-pump used to evacuate air from mould and draw resin through the fabric
- After mould is closed and sealed, vacuum pump extracts air from cavity and resin drawn into
mould via pressure differential created by vacuum
- Used to make large structures like stiffened skins and ribs type structures
- Open mould technique aswell
- Film is b stage cured resin
- Film placed at the bottom, top and inbetween fabric layers
- Materials sealed with vacuum bag and air is removed using vacuum pump
- Assembly is cured in autoclave via heat and pressure
Filament winding
- Cylindrical components made by winding continuous fibre tows over rotating or stationary
mandrel
- Wet winding and prepreg winding
- Wet winding
o Passing continuous tows through resin bath before being deposited onto cylindrical
mandrel
- Prepreg winding
o Depositing thin strips of prepreg onto mandrel, similar to ATP
- Feed head rotated around stationary mandrel, or more often, mandrel rotated whilst feed
head passes backwards and forwards along length
- Successive layers of tows laid at an angle until thickness is reached
- Used to produce cylindrical components like pressure vessels, launch tubes.
- Can produce large components
Pultrusion
- Continuous fibre tows pulled from storage spools and drawn through liquid resin bath
- Then pulled through wipers which get rid of xcess resin
- Passes through a collimeter and then a heated diewhich has final shape of component
- As material passes through die, it is formed into shape whilst resin is cured
- Material must travel through die at a speed to fully cure resin. Too fast and composite is
partially cured, too slow and production rate is affected
- Cured composite leaves die and is cut to a fixed length by a flying saw
- Continuous process. Used for long parts with constant cross section
MACHINING
- Machining for composites often only require trimming to remove excess material from
edges and hole drilling for fasteners
- Composites made to be near net shape
- Usually use water jet cutting because of high cut ccuracy with little edge damage
- Water jet cutting involved use of high pressure stream of water containing hard, tiny
particles that cut through the material by erosion
- Hole drilling of composites requires specialist drill bits
- Often flat two-flute or four-flute dagger drills for carbon-epoxy
- Drilling must be performed using a sharp bit at the correct force and feed-rate, otherwise
material surrounding hole is damaged
- Excessive force causes push down damage, where fibre plies are delaminated ahead of drill
bit
- High feed rate can generate high friction temperatures, overheating polymer matrix and
causing damage due to high thermal conductivity
- Aramid composites difficult to drill without correct bit as fibres have a tendency to fuzz and
fray. Aramid drills have a C type cutting edge that grips fibres on outside, avoiding fraying.
- Reinforcement and matrix in composite are combined but remain in physically discrete
phases when combined into a composite. In comparison, with metal alloys the solute
material dissolves into the solvent, so they are ‘one’.
- Sandwich composites used in lightweight secondary structures requiring high buckling
resistance and flexural rigidity
- Used in helicopters to reduce weight, vibration, corrosion and increase structural
performance
- Used in engines to lower weight, reduced operating and maintenance costs, improved
structural performance, reduced centrifugal force and increasing fatigue life
- Used in spacecraft for lightness, high stiffness and good dimensional stability (low co-eff od
therm exp).
Advantages
- Lightweight: lower density means less weight so greater fuel savings and more economical
aircraft
- Integrated manufacture: Reduction In total amount of parts and fibres
- Structural efficiency: mechanical properties of composites can be tailored by aligning the
fibre reinforcement in the load direction, providing high stiffness and strength where it is
needed
- Fatigue resistance: extremely high fatigue resistance reducing maintenance cost and
extending operational lifetime
- Corrosion resistance: high corrosion resistance, again reducing maintenance and inspection
costs. Also allows for higher humidity level inside cabin
- Radar absorption properties: high radar absorbing properties, so useful for stealth aircraft
- Heat Insulation: Lower thermal conductivity than metals, so they are good heat insulator.
Heat from engines won’t enter cabin etc.
- Low co-eff of thermal expansion: will give composites dimensional stability
Disadvantages
- Cost: material costs are expensive, aso are tooling costs and manufacturing costs can be
- Slow manufacturing times: using autoclaves for curing slows manufacturing times
- Anisotropic properties: best properties in load direction
- Low through thickness mechanical properties: leds to low impact damage resistance and
damage tolerance in through thickness direction
- Impact damage resistance is low: susceptible to delamination cracking when impacted at
low energeies because of low through thickness strength and fracture toughnes
- Damage tolerance: growth of cracks is difficult to control and predict. Don’t have plastic
zone like with metals. So composites must be overdesigned
- Notch sensitivity: reduction in failure strength due to notches can be greater than that of
metal alloys due to anisotropic properties.
- Temperature operating limit: Composites soften and distort at lower temperatures than
aluminium due to glass transition temp
- Flammability: composite materials are flammable and burn, produce smoke and release
heat when exposed to high temp fire
- Low electrical conductivity: poor conductors of electricity, so can have damage from
lightning strike
MECHANICS
- Unit cell
o Lowest level
o Fibre and resin treated separately
o Uses mircomechanics theory
- Ply
o Next level up
o Outputs of the unit cell are used as input for single ply properties
o Fibre and matrix are still treated separately
o All fibres assumed to be aligned to loading direction
- Laminate
o Properties of ply are used as inputs for laminate calculations
o Fibre and matrix looked upon as ‘one’
o Analyses multiple ply layers at different fibre angles
o Each ply layer is treated separately
- Structural
o Takes properties from laminate level and uses it as inputs for structural analysis
o Analysis composite as a single orthotropic material with geometrical features of final
component
o Used to predict stiffness, strength and other properties of final composite structure
o Usually done via FEM or other numerical methods
- Young’s mod much higher when loaded in longitudinal direction than anti-fibre direction. So
young’s modulus drastically decreases as fibre angle decreases from 0 to 90 (for UD). As
fibre angle is increased, matrix contributes more to overall stiffness. Shear modulus is max at
45 degrees, and is the same value at 0 and 90. Young’s mod falls by nearly 80& from 0 to 30
degrees.
- Due to this, UD should not be used in aircraft
- [0,90]: max at 0 and 90 (half of that of UD), and min at 45
- [quasi]: max at 0,45,90 (slightly more than half of that of [0,90] due to contribution of +- 45
- Fibre arrangement must be symmetric to avoid warping
Longitudinal strength
- Dependent on fibres
- Variable because of surface flaws and defects
- Cracks created through handling and production
- Sizing agents can be used to protect from surface flaws and minimise sliding friction
- Fracture always occurs at largest flaw, and other smaller flaws have no influence on strength
- Micromechanics doesn’t accurately model tensile strength, uses averaging technique
- Fibres with lowest strength are first to break in a composite
- As tension force is increased more and more fibres break until total filure happens
- Fibres begin to break at threshold level
- Design load limit is well below threshold level
- Shear lag
o When fibre breaks, it still carries load through the matrix. The matrix transfers load
from one fibre to the other. As applied load increases, strain increases and load
transfer gets less. Without shear lag, longitudinal tensile strength would be lower
than it actually is
Moisture absorption
- High humidity and warm temperature in tropics cause hygrodthermal ageing
o This is when rate of moisture is increased and material deterioration is accelerated
- Absorption usually occurs via diffusion of water molecules through polymer matrix.
- Moisture also absorbed through fibre-matrix interfacial region
- Carbon and glass fibres do not absorb moisture, but organic fibres like aramid can absord
significant amounts of moisture
- Cause plasticisation in matrix, reducing stiffness and strength (reversible, properties will
come back once composite is dried out)
- Reduces glass transition temp, thus reduces maximum operating temp
- Break down polymer chains via chemical reaction, reducing mechanical properties
- Also seep into surface cracks and flaws and increase size
- Makes nomex soft, corrodes aluminium (use closed cell foam)
UV radiation
- Destroys chemical bonds in epoxy resins, and degraded material removed from surface by
wing and rain
- Breaks down aramid\protect by using uv absorbant paint
FATIGUE
Types of fatigue
Fatigue Stress
- Fatigue damage can occur in many locations throughout composite, rather than at single
dominant crack like in metals
- Composites fail progressive through a series of cracks and damage events, rather than
through one main crack
- At high fatigue stress and short life, fatigue damage dominated by fibre breakage
- At intermediate stress – matrix crack, fibre-matrix debonding, delamination cracks, fibre
breakage also occurs but more slowly, so life is prolonged
- At lowest stress, you get infinite life as it is below endurance limit. Determined by fatigue
limit of polymer matrix
- Boron/Epoxy has best tensile fatigue stress, then carbon fibre
- Glass fibres have lower fatigue properties due to low stiffness. Boron more stiff than carbon
- Unidirectional has best fatigue strength, then cross ply, then quasi, and finally +-45
- Fatigue damage in composites occur due to both tension and compression. Only occurs due
to tension in metals. T-C most severe, then C-C and then T-T
- Strength stays constant over fatigue life and then suddenly falls near the end
- Stiffness initially reduces by a little, then stays constant, and then falls just after strength
falls
- This is because composite tends to break near end of fatigue life
- Fatigue life increases with strength and stiffness. So hard to improve as max fibre vol fract
already being used. Can increase number of plies in 0 degrees, but then it wont be able to
take loads from different directions, so wont be useful in aircraft structures
- HM carbon fibres best for high fatigue resistance
- Highest stiffness = greatest fatigue resistance
- Fatigue life reduced when frequency is above 20 Hz, because heat builds up in material at
high frequencies and then softens the polymer matrix. Fatigue of metals not affected by freq
until extremely high levels, rarely encountered in aircraft
IN PLANE FRACTURE
INTERLAMINAR FRACTURE
- Much less energy required to cause interlaminar failure
- Low inteterlaminar fracture strength is a reason why impact damage of composites is so
weak.
- Crackin occurs in fibre direction between ply layers, known as delamination fracture
- Results from delamination cracking
The certification of structural and engine materials is one of the most important issues with the
testing and evaluation of new aircraft. Certification is also performed when new materials are
used in major structural refits of existing aircraft, usually for life extension. Certification is
essential to ensure the materials are safe, reliable, durable and functional in their structural
application. New and improved materials cannot be introduced into aircraft without thorough
analysis, testing and evaluation. A rigorous engineering assessment of the structural materials
must be undertaken and passed before they are certified to use on aircraft and helicopters. The
certification assessment involves mechanical and environmental (durability) testing of the
material together with computation analysis using finite element modelling and other analytical
methods. Aircraft certification is a complex, expensive and time-consuming process.
The certification procedure is often represented by the testing pyramid shown in the figure
below. Also called the “building-block” approach, this method is widely used by the aerospace
industry to establish mechanical property data, property knock-down factors, and validation of
critical design features for structures. Certification begins at the bottom of the pyramid.
Mechanical properties of the material are determined by a series of tests at the “coupon level”,
which means sample sizes about 100-200 mm long and 10-50 mm wide. Coupon tests are
performed to determine basic property data, such as Young’s modulus, strength, fracture
toughness, fatigue life and so on. A large number of property tests are performed to obtain a
statistical database (A- or B-basis allowables). The coupon tests are carried out under a
standardised set of conditions which specify test parameters such as the sample size and loading
rate.
After the mechanical and environmental properties of the materials have been determined by
an exhaustive series of coupon tests, the structural and environmental properties of aircraft
components built using the materials are then measured by more testing at a larger scale. As
shown in the certification pyramid, structural elements, details and sub-components that
represent increasingly complex and more complete sections of the final aircraft are tested. The
final component (e.g. wing or fuselage) is constructed of different sub-components which in
turn are assembled from many structural details which contain a large number of elements. The
elements, details and sub-components contain structural design features not present in the
coupon specimens, such as cut-outs, stringers, rib attachments, changes in section thickness,
bolted or bonded connections. Tests that replicate the actual loading on the final component
are performed on the elements, details and sub-components to ensure they comply with the
design specifications.
Testing of the entire aircraft is the final stage of the certification process. The full-scale test is one of
the most important ways of proving how well the aircraft meets its performance requirements. The
test is extremely important because it tests all the components and materials of the aircraft in the
most realistic manner by simulating actual flight conditions. A full-scale structural test is usually
performed on one of the first to four aircraft built. Full-scale tests are also performed on in-service
aircraft that have undergone a major structural design change. Full-scale tests are used to ensure the
aircraft is structurally sound after all the materials, elements, details and sub-components have been
fully integrated. The full-scale test is also important to determine the effect of secondary loading
caused by complex out-of-plane loads, which may not be determined in earlier testing. Such loads
arise from eccentricities, stiffness changes and local buckling which may not be fully predicted or
eliminated in design nor represented by the structural detail specimen. Another important aspect of
the full-scale test is the confidence that the aircraft is safe. The full-scale component is tested under
conditions given in the certification specifications to ensure it is fully compliant.
- Start with coupon tests: used to determine basically material property data like youngs
modulus, tensile strength etc. and to create a material data base for A nad B allowables. A
and B allowables. These allowables must be established at the most critical environmental
conditions
- After coupon tests, you move to element tests, detail tests and subcomponent tests. These
levels contain design elements not present in coupon tests (such as stringers, ribs etc.), and
tests which replicate actual loading on final component are done to on these levels to
ensure they comply with design specifications.
- Finally, full-scale component tests are done to DUL or to complete failure. They are
important to view the effects of secondary loading caused by out of plane loading which
may not have been predicted at previous levels. Full scale fatigue and damage tolerance
tests are critical to ensure component meets specifications and requirements. Main
verification of fatigue performance will be based on tests further down pyramid.
- Tests that replicate the actual loading on the final component are performed on the
elements, details and sub-components to ensure they comply with the design
specifications.
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