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At least 487 records · Page 27

Analysis for stresses and buckling of heated composite stiffened panels and other structures, phase 3

Analytical methods based on linear theory are presented for predicting the thermal stresses in and the buckling of heated structures with arbitrary uniform cross section. The structure is idealized as an assemblage of laminated plate-strip elements, curved and planar, and beam elements. Uniaxially stiffened plates and shells of arbitrary cross section are typical examples. For the buckling analysis the structure or selected elements may be subjected to mechanical loads, in additional to thermal loads, in any desired combination of inplane transverse load and axial compression load. The analysis is also applicable to stiffened structures under inplane loads varying through the cross section, as in stiffened shells under bending. The buckling analysis is general and covers all modes of instability. The analysis has been applied to a limited number of problems and the results are presented. These while showing the validity and the applicability of the method do not reflect its full capability.

Viswanathan, A. V.↗

An NDE Approach for Characterizing Quality Problems in Polymer Matrix Composites

Polymer matrix composite (PMC) materials are periodically identified appearing optically uniform but containing a higher than normal level of global nonuniformity as indicated from preliminary ultrasonic scanning. One such panel was thoroughly examined by nondestructive (NDE) and destructive methods to quantitatively characterize the nonuniformity. The NDE analysis of the panel was complicated by the fact that the panel was not uniformly thick. Mapping of ultrasonic velocity across a region of the panel in conjunction with an error analysis was necessary to (1) characterize properly the porosity gradient that was discovered during destructive analyses and (2) account for the thickness variation effects. Based on this study, a plan for future NDE characterization of PMC's is presented to the PMC community.

Roth, Don J.↗

Bonded and Stitched Composite Structure

A method of forming a composite structure can include providing a plurality of composite panels of material, each composite panel having a plurality of holes extending through the panel. An adhesive layer is applied to each composite panel and a adjoining layer is applied over the adhesive layer. The method also includes stitching the composite panels, adhesive layer, and adjoining layer together by passing a length of a flexible connecting element into the plurality of holes in the composite panels of material. At least the adhesive layer is cured to bond the composite panels together and thereby form the composite structure.

Zalewski, Bart F.↗

Fire containment tests of aircraft interior panels

The paper describes an experimental program carried out to evaluate a possible method for testing the fire-containment qualities of aircraft interior panels. The experimental apparatus consisted of a burner that simulates various fire loads under different ventilation conditions in an enclosure of approximately the same size as an aircraft lavatory module. Two fire-containment tests are discussed in which two adjoining walls of the enclosure were made from state-of-the-art composite panels; rats were exposed to the combustion products in order to evaluate the toxic threat posed by those products. The results show that the burner can be employed to represent various fire-load conditions and that the methodology developed for fire containment can be useful in evaluating the fire resistance of composite panels before conducting large-scale tests. It is concluded that elements of the fire-containment criteria include the temperature rise on the backface of the panels as a function of time, the flame burn-through by either decomposition or severe distortion of the material, and the toxicity of the combustion gases evolved.

Kourtides, D. A.↗

An Analysis of the Stability and Ultimate Compressive Strength of Short Sheet-stringer Panels with Special Reference to the Influence of the Riveted Connection Between Sheet and Stringer

A method of strength analysis of short sheet-stringer panels subjected to compression is presented which takes into account the effect that the riveted attachments between the plate and the stiffeners have on the strength of panels. An analysis of experimental data shows that panel strength is highly influenced by rivet pitch, diameter, and location and that the degree of influence for a given riveting depends on the panel configuration and panel material.

Semonian, Joseph W↗

Study of critical defects in ablative heat shield systems for the space shuttle

Experimental results are presented for a program conducted to determine the effects of fabrication-induced defects on the performance of an ablative heat shield material. Exposures representing a variety of space shuttle orbiter mission environments-humidity acoustics, hot vacuum and cold vacuum-culuminating in entry heating and transonic acoustics, were simulated on large panels containing intentional defects. Nondestructive methods for detecting the defects, were investigated. The baseline materials were two honeycomb-reinforced low density, silicone ablators, MG-36 and SS-41. Principal manufacturing-induced defects displaying a critical potential included: off-curing of the ablator, extreme low density, undercut (or crushed) honeycomb reinforcements, and poor wet-coating of honeycomb.

Miller, C. C.↗

Nondestructive evaluation of regeneratively cooled thrust chambers for rocket engines

Review of a development program for nondestructive tests applicable to hardware with electroformed nickel bonds. The four steps of the program include the selection of some most promising nondestructive evaluation methods out of existing methods, the fabrication of test panels for simulation of cooled thrust chamber walls with bonds of various integrities, the evaluation of the test panels by personnel without previous knowledge of the planned bond integrity, and the verification of actual bond strength in the test panels by destructive tests. Ultrasonics, acoustic emission and holography are evaluated in nondestructive testing applications.

Stauffis, C. R.↗

Fabrication process development of SiC/superalloy composite sheet for exhaust system components

A chemical compatibility study was conducted between SiC filament and the following P/M matrix alloys: Waspaloy, Hastelloy-X, NiCrAlY, Ha-188, S-57, FeCrAlY, and Incoloy 800. None of the couples demonstrated sufficient chemical compatibility to withstand the minimum HIP consolidation temperatures (996 C) or intended application temperature of the composite (982 C). However, Waspaloy, Haynes 188, and Hastelloy-X were the least reactive with SiC of the candidate alloys. Chemical vapor deposited tungsten was shown to be an effective diffusion barrier between the superalloy matrix and SiC filament providing a defect-free coating of sufficient thickness. However, the coating breaks down when the tungsten is converted into intermetallic compounds by interdiffusion with matrix constituents. Waspaloy was demonstrated to be the most effective matrix alloy candidate in contact with the CVD tungsten barrier because of its relatively low growth rate constant of the intermediate compound and the lack of formation of Kirkendall voids at the matrix-barrier interface. Fabrication methods were developed for producing panels of uniaxial and angle ply composites utilizing CVD tungsten coated filament.

Cornie, J. A.↗

Noise transmission and attenuation for business aircraft

This paper describes analytical studies applicable for estimating the effects of noise transmission into light aircraft and commuter type aircraft. The propeller noise and turbulent boundary layer noise are considered. The analytical model described uses modal methods and incorporates flat stiffened panels for flat sided sidewalls and curved stiffened panels for cylindrical enclosures. The numerical results include noise attenuation with add-on treatments and the sensitivity of the transmitted noise to the discrete stiffening of the sidewall panels.

Vaicaitis, R.↗

Aerodynamic optimization, comparison, and trim design of canard and conventional high performance general aviation configurations

A design study has been conducted to optimize trim cruise flight of high performance general aviation canard aircraft which achieve minimum drag. In order to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of canard configured aircraft, corresponding conventional tail-aft 'baseline' aircraft were designed and used for comparison. Two-dimensional predictions were obtained by coupling inviscid results from a vortex panel multi-element program to a momentum integral boundary layer analysis. Using the results of the two-dimensional vortex panel analysis, a vortex lattice method was employed to predict the finite wing results. The analysis utilized a turbulent airfoil and a natural laminar airfoil which are two NASA state-of-the-art airfoil sections. The canard aircraft designs give quantitative results of wing and canard loadings, wing-to-canard moment arm ratios, and aspect ratio effects for trim cruise flight for a wide range of wing-to-canard area ratios. Both canard and baseline aircraft achieved a 25 to 30 percent improvement in performance over typical current technology aircraft, but high canard loading necessary for trim resulted in slightly poorer performance of the canard aircraft as compared to the baseline designs.

Keith, M. W.↗

An analytical design procedure for the determination of effective leading edge extensions on thick delta wings

An analytical design procedure for leading edge extensions (LEE) was developed for thick delta wings. This LEE device is designed to be mounted to a wing along the pseudo-stagnation stream surface associated with the attached flow design lift coefficient of greater than zero. The intended purpose of this device is to improve the aerodynamic performance of high subsonic and low supersonic aircraft at incidences above that of attached flow design lift coefficient, by using a vortex system emanating along the leading edges of the device. The low pressure associated with these vortices would act on the LEE upper surface and the forward facing area at the wing leading edges, providing an additional lift and effective leading edge thrust recovery. The first application of this technique was to a thick, round edged, twisted and cambered wing of approximately triangular planform having a sweep of 58 deg and aspect ratio of 2.30. The panel aerodynamics and vortex lattice method with suction analogy computer codes were employed to determine the pseudo-stagnation stream surface and an optimized LEE planform shape.

Farhad Ghaffari↗

The exact solution of shear-lag problems in flat panels and box beams assumed rigid in the transverse direction

A mathematical procedure is herein developed for obtaining exact solutions of shear-lag problems in flat panels and box beams: the method is based on the assumption that the amount of stretching of the sheets in the direction perpendicular to the direction of essential normal stresses is negligible. Explicit solutions, including the treatment of cut-outs, are given for several cases and numerical results are presented in graphic and tabular form. The general theory is presented in a from which further solutions can be readily obtained. The extension of the theory to cover certain cases of non-uniform cross section is indicated. Although the solutions are obtained in terms of infinite series, the present developments differ from those previously given in that, in practical cases, the series usually converge so rapidly that sufficient accuracy is afforded by a small number of terms. Comparisons are made in several cases between the present results and the corresponding solutions obtained by approximate procedures devised by Reissner and by Kuhn and Chiarito.

STRESSED SKIN-PLATES, FLAT↗

Low-Melt Poly(Amic Acids) and Polyimides and Their Uses

Provided are low-melt polyimides and poly(amic acids) (PAAs) for use in repair of electrical wire insulation, flat or ribbon wire harnesses, and flat surfaces comprised of high-performance polymers such as inflatables or solar panels applications. Also provided are methods and devices for repair of electrical insulation.

Jolley, Scott T.↗

Low-Melt Poly(amic Acids) and Polyimides and Their Uses

Provided are low-melt polyimides and poly(amic acids) (PAAs) for use in repair of electrical wire insulation, flat or ribbon wire harnesses, and flat surfaces comprised of high-performance polymers such as inflatables or solar panels applications. Also provided are methods and devices for repair of electrical insulation.

Jolley, Scott T.↗

Characterization and Modeling of Cell Wall Imperfections in Aluminum Honeycomb Cores using X-ray CT Imaging

Honeycomb cell imperfections may significantly affect the failure of sandwich composites in core crushing and shear modes. Identification and quantification of the different types of imperfections and evaluation of their effects on the mechanical response of honeycomb cores in flatwise compression is presented. X-Ray computed tomography (CT) scans of honeycomb cores in co-cured composite sandwich panels were performed. Image analysis methods are applied to characterize and quantify core cell geometry and cell wall waviness. An approach is developed for extracting cell wall mid surface planes and waviness for constructing finite element models using shell elements. Analysis results from models with the as-manufactured imperfections are compared to results from models with idealized geometries to evaluate the effect of the as-manufactured imperfections on the initiation of cell wall buckling and subsequent core crushing.

aluminum honeycomb↗

Analysis/design of strip reinforced random composites (strip hybrids)

Advanced analysis methods and composite mechanics were applied to a strip-reinforced random composite square panel with fixed ends to illustrate the use of these methods for the a priori assessment of the composite panel when subjected to complex loading conditions. The panel was assumed to be of E-glass random composite. The strips were assumed to be of three advanced unidirectional composites to cover a range of low, intermediate, and high modulus stiffness. The panels were assumed to be subjected to complex loadings to assess their adequacy as load-carrying members in auto body, aircraft engine nacelle and windmill blade applications. The results show that strip hybrid panels can be several times more structurally efficient than the random composite base materials. Some of the results are presented in graphical form and procedures are described for use of these graphs as guides for preliminary design of strip hybrids.

Chamis, C. C.↗

Compressive and shear buckling analysis of metal matrix composite sandwich panels under different thermal environments

Combined inplane compressive and shear buckling analysis was conducted on flat rectangular sandwich panels using the Raleigh-Ritz minimum energy method with a consideration of transverse shear effect of the sandwich core. The sandwich panels were fabricated with titanium honeycomb core and laminated metal matrix composite face sheets. The results show that slightly slender (along unidirectional compressive loading axis) rectangular sandwich panels have the most desirable stiffness-to-weight ratios for aerospace structural applications; the degradation of buckling strength of sandwich panels with rising temperature is faster in shear than in compression; and the fiber orientation of the face sheets for optimum combined-load buckling strength of sandwich panels is a strong function of both loading condition and panel aspect ratio. Under the same specific weight and panel aspect ratio, a sandwich panel with metal matrix composite face sheets has much higher buckling strength than one having monolithic face sheets.

Ko, William L.↗

Compressive and shear buckling analysis of metal matrix composite sandwich panels under different thermal environments

Combined inplane compressive and shear buckling analysis was conducted on flat rectangular sandwich panels using the Raleigh-Ritz minimum energy method with a consideration of transverse shear effect of the sandwich core. The sandwich panels were fabricated with titanium honeycomb core and laminated metal matrix composite face sheets. The results show that slightly slender (along unidirectional compressive loading axis) rectangular sandwich panels have the most desirable stiffness-to-weight ratios for aerospace structural applications; the degradation of buckling strength of sandwich panels with rising temperature is faster in shear than in compression; and the fiber orientation of the face sheets for optimum combined-load buckling strength of sandwich panels is a strong function of both loading condition and panel aspect ratio. Under the same specific weight and panel aspect ratio, a sandwich panel with metal matrix composite face sheets has much higher buckling strength than one having monolithic face sheets.

Ko, William L.↗