Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “stiffened composite panels”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

Evaluation of the Structural Response and Failure of a Full-Scale Stitched Graphite-Epoxy Wing

Analytical and experimental results for an all-composite full-scale wing box are presented. The wing box is representative of a section of a 220-passenger commercial transport aircraft wing box and was designed and constructed by The Boeing Company as part of the NASA Advanced Subsonics Technology (AST) program. The semi-span wing was fabricated from a graphite-epoxy material system with cover panels and spars held together using Kevlar stitches through the thickness. No mechanical fasteners were used to hold the stiffeners to the skin of the cover panels. Tests were conducted with and without low-speed impact damage, discrete source damage and repairs. Upbending, down-bending and brake roll loading conditions were applied. The structure with nonvisible impact damage carried 97% of Design Ultimate Load prior to failure through a lower cover panel access hole. Finite element and experimental results agree for the global response of the structure.

Jegley, Dawn C.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Manufacturing development of pultruded composite panels

The weight savings potential, of graphite-epoxy composites for secondary and medium primary aircraft structures, was demonstrated. One of the greatest challenges facing the aircraft industry is to reduce the acquisition costs for composite structures to a level below that of metal structures. The pultrusion process, wherein reinforcing fibers, after being passed through a resin bath are drawn through a die to form and cure the desired cross-section, is an automated low cost manufacturing process for composite structures. The Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Company (LASC) Composites Development Center designed, characterizated materials for, fabricated and tested a stiffened cover concept compatible with the continuous pultrusion process. The procedures used and the results obtained are presented.

Meade, L. E.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Manufacturing Trials of Integrally Stiffened Panels for Flight Applications

Reduced weight is an ever-increasing demand within the aerospace industry, and non-traditional means of achieving this demand are increasingly being considered. There is also a desire to reduce the manual labor involved in attaching thousands of parts together with rivets and other fasteners. Using advanced stiffener concepts can avoid the weight of fasteners and streamline fabrication by reducing the part count, while still providing the mandatory strength requirements for flight certification. Described herein is a set of manufacturing trials that were completed at NASA Langley Research Center to investigate the feasibility of various integrated stiffener concepts. Fully composite stiffeners that can be integrated or attached by other means, either through bonding or interleaving them within the skin, can remove the fasteners and still maintain a rapid manufacturing rate. This study contains these advanced stiffener concepts, and the lessons learned and design iterations that resulted from the series of manufacturing trials. Each set of trials was completed with an end goal of using tow-steered integral stiffeners for flight structure in composite aircraft wings.

Composite↗
NASA NTRS2012

Structural Integrity Testing Method for PRSEUS Rod-Wrap Stringer Design

NASA Langley Research Center and The Boeing Company are developing an innovative composite structural concept, called PRSEUS, for the flat center section of a future environmentally friendly hybrid wing body (HWB) aircraft. The PRSEUS (Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure) concept uses dry textile preforms for the skins, frames, and stiffener webs. The highly loaded stiffeners are made from precured unidirectional carbon/epoxy rods and dry fiber preforms. The rods are wrapped with the dry fiber preforms and a resin infusion process is used to form the rod-wrap stiffeners. The structural integrity of the rod-wrap interface is critical for maintaining the panel s high strength and bending rigidity. No standard testing method exists for testing the strength of the rod-wrap bondline. Recently, Boeing proposed a rod push-out testing method and conducted some preliminary tests using this method. This paper details an analytical study of the rod-wrap bondline. The rod-wrap interface is modeled as a cohesive zone for studying the initiation and growth of interfacial debonding during push-out testing. Based on the correlations of analysis results and Boeing s test data, the adequacy of the rod-wrap testing method is evaluated, and potential approaches for improvement of the test method are proposed.

Wang, John T.↗
NASA NTRS2015

An Analysis Methodology to Predict Damage Propagation in Notched Composite Fuselage Structures

A new methodology is proposed for predicting damage propagation in notched composite skin-stiffened structures. The proposed approach considers the interaction of damage propagation in the skin with delamination of the stiffener in order to assess the damage containment behavior of the structure. The damage propagating from a notch within a thin fiber-reinforced polymer skin is idealized as a through-the-thickness cohesive crack. The cohesive law for the through-the-thickness crack is characterized using a compact tension test. The approach was applied to a full-scale pultruded rod stitched efficient unitized structure (PRSEUS) concept fuselage panel that was tested recently. The stitched skin/stringer interfaces, a key feature of the PRSEUS concept, were modeled to assess the effectiveness of the stitching at containing damage propagation. Comparison between the predicted and observed damage extension shows acceptable agreement throughout loading. These results indicate that the model can represent accurately the complex interactions between a through-the-thickness crack in the skin and delamination between the skin and stringer. The model is used to demonstrate that the skin-stiffener interface toughness is critical to damage containment capability

Bergan, A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Global/local stress analysis of composite panels

A method for performing a global/local stress analysis is described, and its capabilities are demonstrated. The method employs spline interpolation functions which satisfy the linear plate bending equation to determine displacements and rotations from a global model which are used as boundary conditions for the local model. Then, the local model is analyzed independent of the global model of the structure. This approach can be used to determine local, detailed stress states for specific structural regions using independent, refined local models which exploit information from less-refined global models. The method presented is not restricted to having a priori knowledge of the location of the regions requiring local detailed stress analysis. This approach also reduces the computational effort necessary to obtain the detailed stress state. Criteria for applying the method are developed. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated using a classical stress concentration problem and a graphite-epoxy blade-stiffened panel with a discontinuous stiffener.

Ransom, Jonathan B.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Global/local stress analysis of composite panels

A method for performing a global/local stress analysis is described and its capabilities are demonstrated. The method employs spline interpolation functions which satisfy the linear plate bending equation to determine displacements and rotations from a global model which are used as 'boundary conditions' for the local model. Then, the local model is analyzed independently of the global model of the structure. This approach can be used to determine local, detailed stress states for specific structural regions using independent, refined local models which exploit information from less-refined global models. The method presented is not restricted to having a priori knowledge of the location of the regions requiring local detailed stress analysis. This approach also reduces the computational effort necessary to obtain the detailed stress state. Criteria for applying the method are developed. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated using a classical stress concentration problem and a graphite-epoxy blade-stiffened panel with a discontinuous stiffener.

Ransom, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Impact damage resistance of composite fuselage structure, part 2

The strength of laminated composite materials may be significantly reduced by foreign object impact induced damage. An understanding of the damage state is required in order to predict the behavior of structure under operational loads or to optimize the structural configuration. Types of damage typically induced in laminated materials during an impact event include transverse matrix cracking, delamination, and/or fiber breakage. The details of the damage state and its influence on structural behavior depend on the location of the impact. Damage in the skin may act as a soft inclusion or affect panel stability, while damage occurring over a stiffener may include debonding of the stiffener flange from the skin. An experiment to characterize impact damage resistance of fuselage structure as a function of structural configuration and impact threat was performed. A wide range of variables associated with aircraft fuselage structure such as material type and stiffener geometry (termed, intrinsic variables) and variables related to the operating environment such as impactor mass and diameter (termed, extrinsic variables) were studied using a statistically based design-of-experiments technique. The experimental design resulted in thirty-two different 3-stiffener panels. These configured panels were impacted in various locations with a number of impactor configurations, weights, and energies. The results obtained from an examination of impacts in the skin midbay and hail simulation impacts are documented. The current discussion is a continuation of that work with a focus on nondiscrete characterization of the midbay hail simulation impacts and discrete characterization of impact damage for impacts over the stiffener.

Dost, Ernest F.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Uncertainty Analysis of Composite Structures

A two-phase approach and a computational procedure are presented for predicting the variability in the nonlinear response of composite structures associated with variations in the geometric and material parameters of the structure. In the first phase, hierarchical sensitivity analysis is used to identify the major parameters, which have the most effect on the response quantities of interest. In the second phase, the major parameters are taken to be fuzzy parameters, and a fuzzy set analysis is used to determine the range of variation of the response, associated with preselected variations in the major parameters. The effectiveness of the procedure is demonstrated by means of a numerical example of a cylindrical panel with four T-shaped stiffeners and a circular cutout.

Noor, Ahmed K.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Advanced manufacturing development of a composite empennage component for L-1011 aircraft

Work in process verification and tooling development continued. The decision was made to redesign the ribs to a more producible design. The bead was eliminated and the truss ribs changed to plain C sections. The solid web rib stiffeners were eliminated as well as the beads and the webs are now reinforced with a syntactic core. Syntectic is an epoxy containing glass microballoons. Two cover specimens were successfully tested. The first specimen (H27) was designed to verify the stability and compression strength of the cover when it is hot and wet. Failure occurred at 120 percent of design ultimate load. As the failure appeared to be fixture induced and was limited to one end of the panel, the remainder of the panel will be tested. The second specimen (H28) was designed to verify the failsafe aspects of the design. The test verified the design. Preparation of the PRVT test facility is nearing completion and all ten spar durability specimens were installed in the test chambers.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1978

Advanced manufacturing development of a composite empennage component for L-1011 aircraft

Work continued toward the development of tooling and processing concepts required for a cocured hat/skin cover assembly. A plan was developed and implemented to develop the process for using preimpregnated T300/5208 with a resin content of 34 + or - 2 percent by weight. Use of this material results in a simplified laminating process because removal by bleeding or prebleeding is no longer required. The approach to this task basically consists of fabricating and testing flat laminated panels and simulated structural panels to verify known processing techniques relative to end-laminate quality. The flat panels were used to determine air bleeding arrangement and required cure cycle. Single and multihat-stiffened panels were fabricated using the established air bleeding arrangement and cure cycle with the resulting cured parts yielding excellent correlation of ply thickness with all surfaces clear of porosity and voids.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1985

Fuel containment and damage tolerance in large composite primary aircraft structures. Phase 2: Testing

Technical issues associated with fuel containment and damage tolerance of composite wing structures for transport aircraft were investigated. Material evaluation tests were conducted on two toughened resin composites: Celion/HX1504 and Celion/5245. These consisted of impact, tension, compression, edge delamination, and double cantilever beam tests. Another test series was conducted on graphite/epoxy box beams simulating a wing cover to spar cap joint configuration of a pressurized fuel tank. These tests evaluated the effectiveness of sealing methods with various fastener types and spacings under fatigue loading and with pressurized fuel. Another test series evaluated the ability of the selected coatings, film, and materials to prevent fuel leakage through 32-ply AS4/2220-1 laminates at various impact energy levels. To verify the structural integrity of the technology demonstration article structural details, tests were conducted on blade stiffened panels and sections. Compression tests were performed on undamaged and impacted stiffened AS4/2220-1 panels and smaller element tests to evaluate stiffener pull-off, side load and failsafe properties. Compression tests were also performed on panels subjected to Zone 2 lightning strikes. All of these data were integrated into a demonstration article representing a moderately loaded area of a transport wing. This test combined lightning strike, pressurized fuel, impact, impact repair, fatigue and residual strength.

Sandifer, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Repair techniques for celion/LARC-160 graphite/polyimide composite structures

The large stiffness-to-weight and strength-to-weight ratios of graphite composite in combination with the 600 F structural capability of the polyimide matrix can reduce the total structure/TPS weight of reusable space vehicles by 20-30 percent. It is inevitable that with planned usage of GR/PI structural components, damage will occur either in the form of intrinsic flaw growth or mechanical damage. Research and development programs were initiated to develop repair processes and techniques specific to Celion/LARC-160 GR/PI structure with emphasis on highly loaded and lightly loaded compression critical structures for factory type repair. Repair processes include cocure and secondary bonding techniques applied under vacuum plus positive autoclave pressure. Viable repair designs and processes are discussed for flat laminates, honeycomb sandwich panels, and hat-stiffened skin-stringer panels. The repair methodology was verified through structural element compression tests at room temperature and 315 C (600 F).

Jones, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS2020

NASA Advanced Composites Project

The recently-completed NASA Advanced Composites Project (ACP) successfully developed several new technologies aimed at reducing the timeline to design and certify composite aircraft structures. Advancements in the areas of manufacturing simulation, nondestructive inspection and advanced structural design and analysis methodologies were completed in late 2019 under the Advanced Composites Consortium (ACC) public/private partnership as well as NRA-funded university contracts. In the area of Structures, the ACC made significant improvements in rapid design tools for preliminary sizing of structure, along with developing detailed static and fatigue strength prediction methods and methods for modeling high energy impact events in composite structures. These new methodologies and toolsets were validated against a range of representative test data using a comprehensive verification and validation approach which has been published and is now used extensively on other programs. Specific new tool improvements supported by ACC include NASA’s CompDam code and Floating Node Method code. CompDam is now available from NASA as open source code. The team alsoworked on improved impact modeling using LS-Dyna™ and improved delamination modeling using Abaqus™. Rapid design tool improvements are available through Hypersizer. The ACC team released well over 50 publications documenting these method improvements, and the ACP recently received the prestigious NASA Group Achievement Award for their work.Typical Hat Stiffened Panel Test Article Used for Method Validation

ACC↗
NASA NTRS1996

Correlation of Structural Analysis and Test Results for the McDonnell Douglas Stitched/RFI All-Composite Wing Stub Box

The analytical and experimental results of an all-composite wing stub box are presented in this report. The wing stub box, which is representative of an inboard portion of a commercial transport high-aspect-ratio wing, was fabricated from stitched graphite-epoxy material with a Resin Film Infusion manufacturing process. The wing stub box was designed and constructed by the McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Company as part of the NASA Advanced Composites Technology program. The test article contained metallic load-introduction structures on the inboard and outboard ends of the graphite-epoxy wing stub box. The root end of the inboard load introduction structure was attached to a vertical reaction structure, and an upward load was applied to the outermost tip of the outboard load introduction structure to induce bending of the wing stub box. A finite element model was created in which the center portion of the wing-stub-box upper cover panel was modeled with a refined mesh. The refined mesh was required to represent properly the geometrically nonlinear structural behavior of the upper cover panel and to predict accurately the strains in the stringer webs of the stiffened upper cover panel. The analytical and experimental results for deflections and strains are in good agreement.

Wang, John T.↗
NASA NTRS2010

ACT Payload Shroud Structural Concept Analysis and Optimization

Aerospace structural applications demand a weight efficient design to perform in a cost effective manner. This is particularly true for launch vehicle structures, where weight is the dominant design driver. The design process typically requires many iterations to ensure that a satisfactory minimum weight has been obtained. Although metallic structures can be weight efficient, composite structures can provide additional weight savings due to their lower density and additional design flexibility. This work presents structural analysis and weight optimization of a composite payload shroud for NASA s Ares V heavy lift vehicle. Two concepts, which were previously determined to be efficient for such a structure are evaluated: a hat stiffened/corrugated panel and a fiber reinforced foam sandwich panel. A composite structural optimization code, HyperSizer, is used to optimize the panel geometry, composite material ply orientations, and sandwich core material. HyperSizer enables an efficient evaluation of thousands of potential designs versus multiple strength and stability-based failure criteria across multiple load cases. HyperSizer sizing process uses a global finite element model to obtain element forces, which are statistically processed to arrive at panel-level design-to loads. These loads are then used to analyze each candidate panel design. A near optimum design is selected as the one with the lowest weight that also provides all positive margins of safety. The stiffness of each newly sized panel or beam component is taken into account in the subsequent finite element analysis. Iteration of analysis/optimization is performed to ensure a converged design. Sizing results for the hat stiffened panel concept and the fiber reinforced foam sandwich concept are presented.

Zalewski, Bart B.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Global/local stress analysis of composite structures

A method for performing a global/local stress analysis is described and its capabilities are demonstrated. The method employs spline interpolation functions which satisfy the linear plate bending equation to determine displacements and rotations from a global model which are used as boundary conditions for the local model. Then, the local model is analyzed independent of the global model of the structure. This approach can be used to determine local, detailed stress states for specific structural regions using independent, refined local models which exploit information from less-refined global models. The method presented is not restricted to having a priori knowledge of the location of the regions requiring local detailed stress analysis. This approach also reduces the computational effort necessary to obtain the detailed stress state. Criteria for applying the method are developed. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated using a classical stress concentration problem and a graphite-epoxy blade-stiffened panel with a discontinuous stiffener.

Ransom, Jonathan B.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Nonlinear Analysis and Post-Test Correlation for a Curved PRSEUS Panel

The Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure (PRSEUS) concept, developed by The Boeing Company, has been extensively studied as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA s) Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Program. The PRSEUS concept provides a light-weight alternative to aluminum or traditional composite design concepts and is applicable to traditional-shaped fuselage barrels and wings, as well as advanced configurations such as a hybrid wing body or truss braced wings. Therefore, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and The Boeing Company partnered in an effort to assess the performance and damage arrestments capabilities of a PRSEUS concept panel using a full-scale curved panel in the FAA Full-Scale Aircraft Structural Test Evaluation and Research (FASTER) facility. Testing was conducted in the FASTER facility by subjecting the panel to axial tension loads applied to the ends of the panel, internal pressure, and combined axial tension and internal pressure loadings. Additionally, reactive hoop loads were applied to the skin and frames of the panel along its edges. The panel successfully supported the required design loads in the pristine condition and with a severed stiffener. The panel also demonstrated that the PRSEUS concept could arrest the progression of damage including crack arrestment and crack turning. This paper presents the nonlinear post-test analysis and correlation with test results for the curved PRSEUS panel. It is shown that nonlinear analysis can accurately calculate the behavior of a PRSEUS panel under tension, pressure and combined loading conditions.

Gould, Kevin↗