Buckling Optimization of Variable Stiffness Composite Panels for Curvilinear Fibers and Grid Stiffeners

Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machines can manufacture composite panels with curvilinear fibers. In this article, the critical buckling load of grid-stiffened curvilinear fiber composite panels is maximized using a genetic algorithm. The skin is composed of layers in which the fiber orientation varies along one spatial direction. The design variables are the fiber orientation of the panel for each layer and the stiffener layout. Manufacturing constraints in terms of maximum curvature allowable by the AFP machine are imposed for both skin and stiffener fibers. The effect of manufacturing-induced gaps in the laminates is also incorporated. The finite element method is used to perform the buckling analyses. The panels are subjected to in-plane compressive and shear loads under several boundary conditions. Optimization results show that the percentage difference in the buckling load between curvilinear and straight fiber panels depends on the load case and boundary conditions.

Improvement of structural characteristics of composite thin-walled beams using variable stiffness concept via curvilinear fiber placement

This study presents the use of variable stiffness concept via curvilinear fiber placement to achieve improved structural characteristics in composite thin-walled beams (TWBs). The TWB used in the study is constructed in circumferentially asymmetric stiffness (CAS) configuration. The variation of fiber angles along the span and the width of the TWB is included by defining two fiber path functions. A parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of different fiber paths on the structural performance metrics including frequency spacing, unit twist, and critical buckling load. For this purpose, a semi-analytical solution method is developed to conduct free vibration, deformation, and buckling analyses of the TWB with curvilinear fibers. The semi-analytical method is validated with several finite element (FE) analyses performed using ABAQUS. Elastic stress analyses of TWBs with selected fiber paths subjected to simplified distributed loading are also conducted using the FE method, and a ply failure criterion is applied to evaluate the strength of these TWBs. Overall results show that curvilinear fiber placement varied along the span leads to greater structural performance for a composite TWB than the straight fiber configuration.

Enhancement of Static and Dynamic Performance of Composite Tapered Pretwisted Rotating Blade With Variable Stiffness

Composite pretwisted tapered rotating thin-walled beams (TWB) can be used as a load-carrying structural part of a composite helicopter, wind turbine, fan, and turbomachinery blades. In the present study, the variable stiffness concept with curvilinear fiber path is used to achieve improved structural statics and dynamics performance of uniform and asymmetric composite thin-walled rotating beams. A parametric study is performed to investigate the effect of different fiber paths on the structural performance metrics including frequency spacing, coupling factor, and critical buckling load. For this purpose, The Euler–Lagrange governing equations of the dynamic system are derived via Hamilton's principle. To solve the governing set of equations, the extended Galerkin’s method (EGM) is employed. To validate the TWB model with curvilinear fibers, commercial finite element analysis tools abaqus is used. The author believes that the results presented here are likely to provide valuable information to the engineers involved in the design of advanced turbomachinery rotating blades using a variable stiffness concept with curvilinear fiber placement.