TY - GEN
T1 - Design of a composite panel with continuous tow steering around an elliptical cut-out
AU - Zucco, Giovanni
AU - Rouhi, Mohammad
AU - Vincenzo, Oliveri
AU - Cosentino, Enzo
AU - O'Higgins, Ronan
AU - Weaver, Paul M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© ASC 2021.All right reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Cut-outs are inevitable in many structural components such as in aircrafts to accommodate windows or openings for access purposes or fasteners. Engineers usually view cut-outs, especially in primary structures, with disfavour as they result in stress/strain concentration and consequently reduced load carrying capability. Local reinforcements usually increase cost and weight to the overall design which is not favourable in aerospace applications. In case of composite panels, emerging advanced manufacturing methods such as 3D printing of automated fiber placement made it possible to continuously steer fibers/tows around a cut-out to potentially alleviate stress/strain concentration problem. Another advantage of tow steering in this case is maintaining the continuity of fiber/tow paths without any fiber cut which precludes ply-level, 3D stress/strain concentration which could otherwise lead to delamination-induced damage. In this study, potential capability of tow steering around an elliptical cut-out (manhole) in reducing stress/strain concentration in a composite wingbox is investigated Buckling response under compression loading together with stress and strain concentrations under both tensile and compression loads are examined. Under tensile loading, the maximum stress and strain concentration factors around the cut-out in the straight fiber design are shown to be approximately 29% and 32% larger than its counterpart with steered tows around the cut-out. For the compression loading condition, the direct strain of the panel with straight fiber orientations was found to be three times that of steered fiber trajectories in the vicinity of the cut-out.
AB - Cut-outs are inevitable in many structural components such as in aircrafts to accommodate windows or openings for access purposes or fasteners. Engineers usually view cut-outs, especially in primary structures, with disfavour as they result in stress/strain concentration and consequently reduced load carrying capability. Local reinforcements usually increase cost and weight to the overall design which is not favourable in aerospace applications. In case of composite panels, emerging advanced manufacturing methods such as 3D printing of automated fiber placement made it possible to continuously steer fibers/tows around a cut-out to potentially alleviate stress/strain concentration problem. Another advantage of tow steering in this case is maintaining the continuity of fiber/tow paths without any fiber cut which precludes ply-level, 3D stress/strain concentration which could otherwise lead to delamination-induced damage. In this study, potential capability of tow steering around an elliptical cut-out (manhole) in reducing stress/strain concentration in a composite wingbox is investigated Buckling response under compression loading together with stress and strain concentrations under both tensile and compression loads are examined. Under tensile loading, the maximum stress and strain concentration factors around the cut-out in the straight fiber design are shown to be approximately 29% and 32% larger than its counterpart with steered tows around the cut-out. For the compression loading condition, the direct strain of the panel with straight fiber orientations was found to be three times that of steered fiber trajectories in the vicinity of the cut-out.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120483847&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85120483847
T3 - 36th Technical Conference of the American Society for Composites 2021: Composites Ingenuity Taking on Challenges in Environment-Energy-Economy, ASC 2021
SP - 367
EP - 387
BT - 36th Technical Conference of the American Society for Composites 2021
A2 - Ochoa, Ozden
PB - DEStech Publications
T2 - 36th Technical Conference of the American Society for Composites 2021: Composites Ingenuity Taking on Challenges in Environment-Energy-Economy, ASC 2021
Y2 - 20 September 2021 through 22 September 2021
ER -