Structural integrity of aerospace textile composites under fatigue loading

2006 ◽  
Vol 132 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 79-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.D. Kelkar ◽  
J.S. Tate ◽  
R. Bolick
Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4380
Author(s):  
Alirio Andres Bautista Villamil ◽  
Juan Pablo Casas Rodriguez ◽  
Alicia Porras Holguin ◽  
Maribel Silva Barrera

The T-90 Calima is a low-wing monoplane aircraft. Its structure is mainly composed of different components of composite materials, which are mainly bonded by using adhesive joints of different thicknesses. The T-90 Calima is a trainer aircraft; thus, adverse operating conditions such as hard landings, which cause impact loads, may affect the structural integrity of aircrafts. As a result, in this study, the mode I crack propagation rate of a typical adhesive joint of the aircraft is estimated under impact and constant amplitude fatigue loading. To this end, effects of adhesive thickness on the mechanical performance of the joint under quasistatic loading conditions, impact and constant amplitude fatigue in double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens are experimentally investigated. Cyclic impact is induced using a drop-weight impact testing machine to obtain the crack propagation rate (da/dN) as a function of the maximum strain energy release rate (GImax) diagram; likewise, this diagram is also obtained under constant amplitude fatigue, and both diagrams are compared to determine the effect of each type of loading on the structural integrity of the joint. Results reveal that the crack propagation rate under impact fatigue is three orders of magnitude greater than that under constant amplitude fatigue.


Author(s):  
Peter Jenkins ◽  
Trond Pytte ◽  
Harald Holden ◽  
Ignacio Marre ◽  
Jo Espen Rønningen ◽  
...  

During drilling and well intervention (DWI) operations today operating limits are normally given as limiting wave height, and sometimes wave periods. The resulting diagrams are often not directly comparable with weather information received on the rig and the final decisions are often based on subjective assessment of wave height and period. The paper will present how BP, on the newly developed Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea, through thorough planning in the engineering phase has implemented a system where operating limits are specified based on directly measurable parameters such as rig heave and upper and lower flexjoint angles. How weather forecasting can be translated to give the rig crew direct forecasting of the limiting vessel or riser responses (e.g. flexjoint angles or heave), will also be presented. It will be shown how this allows for improved operational planning and support from onshore. Over the last years requirements for oil companies to be able to document the structural integrity of their subsea assets, including wells, has increased. On the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) there has been a particular focus on fatigue loading in the wellhead structure, including the upper sections of casing and conductor, due to loads induced by the riser and BOP during DWI operations. There have been cases where the design fatigue life of a wellhead system limits the number of days one can perform operations with a rig on a given well. This in term affects future oil recovery rates as the well fatigue life may not be sufficient to allow for side step drilling or intervention work required to maintain an optimal production from the well. The paper continues to present how BP on the Skarv field, stores and utilizes the measured lower flexjoint response to track and document well integrity. It will be demonstrated how the return on investment of a drilled well can be improved by documenting actual fatigue loading from each operation on a well compared to conservative design calculations. BP has addressed the above issues in a way that is likely to set a new standard for drilling and intervention operations in the North Sea in the future. 4Subsea AS has provided the engineering and instrumentation services that formed the basis for this paper.


Author(s):  
S. M. S. M. K. Samarakoon ◽  
R. M. Chandima Ratnayake ◽  
S. A. S. C. Siriwardane

Structural integrity control (SIC) is an increasingly important element of offshore structures. Not only is it used in newly built and existing offshore structures (e.g. oil and gas (O&G) production & process facilities (P&PFs), wind turbine installations, etc.), but SIC is also essential for ageing offshore platforms which are subjected to an extension of their design service life. In these cases, SIC programs must be performed to assess the platforms. If any significant changes in structural integrity (SI) are discovered, then it is essential to implement an appropriate strengthening, modification and/or repair (SMR) plan. Currently, welded and grouted repairs are mostly used for SMR. Although a welded repair may typically restore a structure to its initial condition, if the damage is due to fatigue loading and welded repairs have been carried out, then historical evidence reveals that there is a high potential for the damage to reappear over time. On the other hand, mechanical connections are significantly heavier than grouted connections. Consequently, grouted repairs are widely used to provide additional strength, for instance, to handle situations such as preventing propagation of a dent or buckle, sleeved repairs, leg strengthening, clamped repair for load transfer, leak sealing and plugging, etc. This manuscript examines current developments in grouted connections and their comparative pros and cons in relation to welded or mechanical connections. It also provides recommendations for future research requirements to further develop SMR with grouted connections.


1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Kaufman ◽  
R. J. Bucci ◽  
R. A. Kelsey

The Kvaerner-Moss spherical tank design offers significant economic advantage for the shipboard transport of liquefied natural gas. An analytical and experimental approach based on fracture mechanics concepts was used to assist the designer in providing answers to the following basic questions: (1) Might a discontinuity smaller than detectable by nondestructive inspection lead to catastrophic fracture; (2) How fast would such a discontinuity grow under fatigue loading likely to occur during the lifetime of the tank; (3) Could a fatigue crack growing part way through the tank wall precipitate catastrophic fracture before it grows through the wall and is detected as a leak; and (4) If leakage develops, how much time is available to get the ship safely to port for discharge and repair? Both “critical” locations in the tank, i.e., the highest stressed region of the membrane and the equatorial ring, are examined. Available data indicating the safety of spherical tanks fabricated of aluminum alloy 5083-0 is documented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 6327
Author(s):  
Alberto Campagnolo

This Special Issue covers the broad topic of structural integrity of components subjected to either static or fatigue loading conditions, and it is concerned with the modelling, assessment and reliability of components of any scale. Dealing with fracture and fatigue assessments of structural elements, different approaches are available in the literature. They are usually divided into three subgroups: stress-based, strain-based and energy-based criteria. Typical applications include materials exhibiting either linear-elastic or elasto-plastic behaviours, and plain and notched or cracked components subjected to static or cyclic loading conditions. In particular, the articles contained in this issue concentrate on the mechanics of fracture and fatigue in relation to structural elements from nano- to full-scale and on the applications of advanced approaches for fracture and fatigue life predictions under complex geometries or loading conditions.


Author(s):  
Md Shamsuddoha ◽  
Gangadhara B. Prusty ◽  
Phyo Thu Maung ◽  
Andrew W. Phillips ◽  
Nigel St John

Abstract Fibre reinforced composites materials offer a pathway to produce passive shape adaptive smart marine propellers, which have improved performance characteristics over traditional metallic alloys. Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) technology can provide a leap forward in Cyber-Physical automated manufacturing, which is essential for the implementation and operation of smart factories in the marine propeller industry towards Industry 4.0 readiness. In this paper, a comprehensive structural health monitoring (SHM) routine was performed on an AFP full-scale composite hydrofoil to gain confidence in its dynamic and structural performances through a number of active and passive sensors. The hydrofoil was subjected to constant amplitude flexural fatigue loading in a purpose-built test rig for 105 cycles. The hydrofoil was embedded with distributed optical fibre sensors (DOFS), traditional electrical strain gauges and linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs). Both microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and piezoelectric (PZT) accelerometers were used to conduct experimental modal analyses (EMA) to observe changes in the modal response of the hydrofoil at regular intervals throughout the fatigue program. The hydrofoils modal response, as well as the stiffness measured using both displacements and strains, remained unchanged over the fatigue loading regime demonstrating the structural integrity of the hydrofoil. The optical fibre sensors endured the fatigue test cycles showing their robustness under fatigue loads. Furthermore, the sensing systems demonstrated the potential of being utilised as a useful maintenance tool combining their adaptability with automated manufacturing during manufacturing through integration within the hydrofoil, a structural test framework for performance measurement, data acquisition and analytics for visualization, and the prospect of decision making for maintenance requirement during any onset in structural performance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 853 ◽  
pp. 127-131
Author(s):  
Tasnim Hassan ◽  
Raasheduddin Ahmed ◽  
Paul R. Barrett ◽  
Nazrul Islam ◽  
Machel L. Morrison

Design and analysis of critical components in energy (nuclear, solar and fossil power), aerospace, automobile and chemical industries based on detailed inelastic analysis can enhance structural integrity and thereby economy. Especially for the components exposed to very high temperature thermomechanical fatigue loading, unified inelastic analysis based life prediction may enhance accuracy. A unified constitutive model (UCM) with features of strain rate-dependence, static recovery, mean-stress evolution, strain range-dependence, and finally creep damage is developed. The modified UCM is validated against simulating a broad set of strain-controlled isothermal and anisothermal fatigue and fatigue-creep responses, and stress-controlled creep responses of Haynes 230. Some of these results are presented to demonstrate improved simulations by the modified UCM. Importance of damage parameters in improving simulations in the tertiary creep regime is observed.


Author(s):  
Nils So̸dahl ◽  
Torfinn Ottesen

A crucial design issue for compliant risers and umbilicals for dynamic applications is termination of the compliant structure to a rigid structure. A practical way to solve this problem is to introduce a properly designed bend stiffener to limit the stresses in the compliant structure due to bending at the supports. The bend stiffener provides a gradually increase of the bending stiffness from the rather small value of the compliant structure to a significantly larger value that can be rigidly connected without compromising the structural integrity of the compliant structure. Hence, the bend stiffener geometry needs to be designed to fulfill the design requirements for extreme as well as fatigue loading conditions for the compliant structure. Furthermore, it is required that the bend stiffener is as short as possible to limit costs, support forces, and enable fabrication and installation. The main focus of this paper is to outline an optimization scheme for bend stiffeners to meet design criteria for extreme loading conditions. Measures to provide an adequate fatigue performance of bend stiffeners are also discussed. The loads on the bend stiffener are governed by effective tension and relative angle close to the support (i.e. direction of effective tension relative to the longitudinal direction of the compliant structure at the support). Combinations of effective tension and relative angle aggregated for all relevant extreme load conditions define the design loads on the bend stiffener. The capacity of the compliant structure is governed by a capacity curve expressing the allowable curvature as function of the effective tension. A general optimization scheme is outlined accounting for a general description of the design loads as well as the capacity curve. The optimization methodology is based on a general purpose optimization algorithm utilizing a tailor made non-linear static finite element solver to describe the response of the bend stiffener and the compliant structure. Non-dimensional design curves are also presented based on a simplified conservative description of the design loads and the capacity. This allows for easy practical sizing of bend stiffeners without the need for sophisticated optimization software.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (05) ◽  
pp. 1950041
Author(s):  
ABDELWAHED BARKAOUI ◽  
RABEB BEN KAHLA ◽  
TAREK MERZOUKI ◽  
RIDHA HAMBLI

Bone remodeling is a physiological phenomenon coupling resorption and formation processes that are mainly mediated by osteoclasts and osteoblasts, in response to mechanical stimuli transduced by osteocytes to biochemical signals activating the bone multicellular unit. Under normal loading conditions, bone resorption and formation are balanced by a homeostasis process. When bone is subjected to overstress, microdamaging occurs, which induces a modification of the structural integrity and microarchitecture. This has drawn significant attention to the mechanical properties of bone. In this context, the current study has been carried out with the aim of numerically investigating the impact of the mechanical properties on the remodeling process of the trabecular bone under cyclic loading, highlighting the effects of different values of the mineral density and the Young’s modulus. This was performed using a mechanobiological model, coupling mechanical and biological approaches, allowing to numerically simulate the effect of the selected parameters for a 20-year-period of cyclic loading for 2D and 3D models of a human femur head. The current work is an explorative numerical study, and the obtained results revealed the changes in the overall stiffness of the bone according to the mechanical properties.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (20) ◽  
pp. 6148
Author(s):  
Tianyi Feng ◽  
M.H. Ferri Aliabadi

Active sensing using ultrasonic guided waves (UGW) is widely investigated for monitoring possible damages in composite structures. Recently, a novel diagnosed film based on a circuit-printed technique with piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers has been developed. The diagnostic film is a replacement for the traditional cable connection to PZT sensors and has been shown to significantly reduce the weight of the host structure. In this work, the diagnosed films were embedded into composite structures during manufacturing using a novel edge cut-out method during lay-up, which allowed for edge trimming after curing. In this paper, the effect of fatigue loading on the integrity of PZT transducers is initially investigated. The electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) properties at different fatigue loading cycles were used as the diagnostic measure for the performance of the sensors. At the same time, the behaviours of UGW were investigated at different fatigue loading cycles. It was found that the EMI properties and active sensing behaviours remained stable up to 1 million cycles for the force ranges of 0.5~5 kN and 1~10 kN. Next, the effect of embedding the diagnosed film on the mechanical properties of the host composite structure was investigated. Tensile and compressive tests were conducted and the elastic modulus of composite coupons with and without embedded PZT diagnosed films were compared. The elastic modulus of composite coupons with PZT diagnosed films embedded across the entire coupon reduced by as much as 20% for tensile tests and just over 10% for compressive tests compared to the coupons without embedded sensors. These reductions are considered the worst-case scenario, as in real structures the film would only be embedded in a relatively small area of the structure.


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