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At least 19 records

Effect of open hole on tensile failure properties of 2D triaxial braided textile composites and tape equivalents

The unnotched and notched (open hole) tensile strength and failure mechanisms of two-dimensional (2D) triaxial braided composites were examined. The effect of notch size and notch position were investigated. Damage initiation and propagation in notched and unnotched coupons were also examined. Theory developed to predict the normal stress distribution near an open hole and failure for tape laminated composites was evaluated for its applicability to triaxial braided textile composite materials. Four fiber architectures were considered with different combinations of braid angle, longitudinal and braider yam size, and percentage of longitudinal yarns. Tape laminates equivalent to textile composites were also constructed for comparison. Unnotched tape equivalents were stronger than braided textiles but exhibited greater notch sensitivity. Notched textiles and tape equivalents have roughly the same strength at large notch sizes. Two common damage mechanisms were found: braider yams cracking and near notch longitudinal yarn splitting. Cracking was found to initiate in braider yarns in unnotched and notched coupons, and propagate in the direction of the braider yarns until failure. Longitudinal yarn splitting occurred in three of four architectures that were longitudinally fiber dominated. Damage initiation stress decreased with increasing braid angle. No significant differences in prediction of near notch stress between measured and predicted stress were weak for textiles with large braid angle. Notch strength could not be predicted using existing anisotropic theory for braided textiles due to their insensitivity to notch.

Norman, Timothy L.↗

Mechanical properties of 2D and 3D braided textile composites

The purpose of this research was to determine the mechanical properties of 2D and 3D braided textile composite materials. Specifically, those designed for tension or shear loading were tested under static loading to failure to investigate the effects of braiding. The overall goal of the work was to provide a structural designer with an idea of how textile composites perform under typical loading conditions. From test results for unnotched tension, it was determined that the 2D is stronger, stiffer, and has higher elongation to failure than the 3D. It was also found that the polyetherether ketone (PEEK) resin system was stronger, stiffer, and had higher elongation at failure than the resin transfer molding (RTM) epoxy. Open hole tension tests showed that PEEK resin is more notch sensitive than RTM epoxy. Of greater significance, it was found that the 3D is less notch sensitive than the 2D. Unnotched compression tests indicated, as did the tension tests, that the 2D is stronger, stiffer, and has higher elongation at failure than the RTM epoxy. The most encouraging results were from compression after impact. The 3D braided composite showed a compression after impact failure stress equal to 92 percent of the unimpacted specimen. The 2D braided composite failed at about 67 percent of the unimpacted specimen. Higher damage tolerance is observed in textiles over conventional composite materials. This is observed in the results, especially in the 3D braided materials.

Norman, Timothy L.↗

Experimental and analytical characterization of triaxially braided textile composites

There were two components, experimental and analytical, to this investigation of triaxially braided textile composite materials. The experimental portion of the study centered on measuring the materials' longitudinal and transverse tensile moduli, Poisson's ratio, and strengths. The identification of the damage mechanisms exhibited by these materials was also a prime objective of the experimental investigation. The analytical portion of the investigation utilized the Textile Composites Analysis (TECA) model to predict modulus and strength. The analytical and experimental results were compared to assess the effectiveness of the analysis. The figures contained in this paper reflect the presentation made at the conference. They may be divided into four sections: a definition of the material system tested; followed by a series of figures summarizing the experimental results (these figures contain results of a Moire interferometry study of the strain distribution in the material, examples and descriptions of the types of damage encountered in these materials, and a summary of the measured properties); a description of the TECA model follows the experimental results (this includes a series of predicted results and a comparison with measured values); and finally, a brief summary completes the paper.

Masters, John E.↗

Effects of preform architecture on modulus and strength of 2-D triaxially braided textile composites

Laminates formed using braided fibrous preforms have been extensively investigated during the course of the past few years as alternatives to unidirectional prepreg tape systems. This paper focused on one aspect of that work. It defined the role of the fibrous preform architecture in controlling a laminate's mechanical properties. The presentation was divided into four sections as the outline listed above illustrates. The presentation began with a brief introduction which defined the objectives of the study and detailed the materials studied. This was followed by a review of empirical test results. The materials' moduli and strengths were measured in both tension and compression. Their shear moduli were also experimentally determined. The review of the empirical data comprised the bulk of the presentation. A comparison of the experimental data to results predicted analytically was then presented. The presentation concluded with a few summary remarks. The specimens studied in this investigation featured 2-D triaxially braided AS4 graphite fiber preforms impregnated with Shell 1895 epoxy resin.

Masters, John E.↗

Engineering hybrid textile braids for tendon and ligament repair application

Abstract Challenges involving tendon and ligament repair have motivated the investigation of new strategies to improve clinical outcomes. These have been mainly based on polymer constructs, which may be non‐biodegradable or biodegradable. The former typically fails due to lack of device integration and the latter demands a complex balance between biodegradability and tissue ingrowth, often failing due to insufficient mechanical properties. This work presents the development of hybrid braids based on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polylactic acid (PLA) yarns. A textile technique was used to fabricate braids based on 16 multifilament yarns of varying PLA/PET composition. The composition was varied to maximize biodegradability while ensuring mechanical performance. The braids' morphology, physical and mechanical properties were characterized. As production parameters and architecture were maintained, the braids exhibited similar porosity and wicking ability. The breaking force and stiffness decreased significantly as the number of PLA yarns increased, although strain levels remained constant. Braids containing 10 and 12 PET yarns (out of the total 16 yarns) demonstrated good creep and force‐relaxation behavior, as well as resistance to cyclic loading. These compositions were selected for future work, to be assembled into more elaborate structures to mimic the fibrous organization and tensile properties of different tendons/ligaments.

Peixoto, Tânia↗

The effects of specimen width on tensile properties of triaxially braided textile composites

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of the unit cell architecture on the mechanical response of textile reinforced composite materials. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of unit cell size on the tensile properties of 2D triaxially braided graphite epoxy laminates. The figures contained in this paper reflect the presentation given at the conference. They may be divided into four sections: (1) a short definition of the material system tested; (2) a statement of the problem and a review of the experimental results; (3) experimental results consist of a Moire interferometry study of the strain distribution in the material plus modulus and strength measurements; and (4) a short summary and a description of future work will close the paper.

Masters, John E.↗

Tension Strength, Failure Prediction and Damage Mechanisms in 2D Triaxial Braided Composites with Notch

The unnotched and notched (open hole) tensile strength and failure mechanisms of two-dimensional (2D) triaxial braided composites were examined. The effect of notch size and notch position were investigated. Damage initiation and propagation in notched and unnotched coupons were also examined. Theory developed to predict the normal stress distribution near an open hole and failure for tape laminated composites was evaluated for its applicability to 2D triaxial braided textile composite materials. Four different fiber architectures were considered; braid angle, yarn and braider size, percentage of longitudinal yarns and braider angle varied. Tape laminates equivalent to textile composites were also constructed for comparison. Unnotched tape equivalents were stronger than braided textiles but exhibited greater notch sensitivity. Notched textiles and tape equivalents have roughly the same strength at large notch sizes. Two common damage mechanisms were found: braider yarn cracking and near notch longitudinal yarn splitting. Cracking was found to initiate in braider yarns in unnotched and notched coupons, and propagate in the direction of the braider yarns until failure. Damage initiation stress decreased with increasing braid angle. No significant differences in prediction of near notch strain between textile and tape equivalents could be detected for small braid angle, but the correlations were weak for textiles with large braid angle. Notch strength could not be predicted using existing anisotropic theory for braided textiles due to their insensitivity to notch.

Norman, Timothy L.↗

Standard Methods for Unnotched Tension Testing of Textile Composites

An investigation was conducted by researchers at the Boeing Defense & Space Group to investigate the effects of specimen sizing on several braided textile materials. Test results from this and other test programs were compared in an effort to determine what effect, if any, specimen size has on elastic property measurements of unnotched tension test. In general, the unnotched tensile strength of 2-D braids was found to be insensitive to specimen width, length, or thickness effects. The results from this study suggest that standard testing methods used for tape materials may be sufficient for tension testing of textile composite materials. Specifically, the straight sided specimen geometry described in ASTM 3034, and used by Boeing, should provide acceptable results. Further experiments performed at Boeing and by other investigators on other textile architectures suggest similar results. Although specimen size studies were not conducted, failing stresses varied on the same order as those obtained with the 2-D materials. This suggests that the accuracy of the results were consistent with those obtained with the 2-D materials.

Portanova, M. A.↗

Tensile properties of textile composites

The importance of textile composite materials in aerospace structural applications has been gaining momentum in recent years. With a view to better understand the suitability of these materials in aerospace applications, an experimental program was undertaken to assess the mechanical properties of these materials. Specifically, the braided textile preforms were infiltrated with suitable polymeric matrices leading to the fabrication of composite test coupons. Evaluation of the tensile properties and the analyses of the results in the form of strength moduli, Poisson's ratio, etc., for the braided composites are presented. Based on our past experience with the textile coupons, the fabrication techniques have been modified (by incorporating glass microballoons in the matrix and/or by stabilizing the braid angle along the length of the specimen with axial fibers) to achieve enhanced mechanical properties of the textile composites. This paper outlines the preliminary experimental results obtained from testing these composites.

Avva, V. Sarma↗

Through-the Thickness(R) braided composites for aircraft applications

Material and structural specimens of Through-the-Thickness(R) braided textile composites were tested in a variety of experiments. The results have demonstrated that the preform architecture provides significant payoffs in damage tolerance, delamination resistance, and attachment strength. This paper describes the braiding process, surveys the experimental data base, and illustrates the application of three dimensional braiding in aircraft structures.

Brown, Richard T.↗

Graphite Fiber Textile Preform/Copper Matrix Composites

Graphite fiber reinforced/copper matrix composites are candidate materials for critical heat transmitting and rejection components because of their high thermal conduction. The use of textile (braid) preforms allows near-net shapes which confers additional advantages, both for enhanced thermal conduction and increased robustness of the preform against infiltration and handling damage. Issues addressed in the past year center on the determination of the braid structure following infiltration, and the braidability vs. the conductivity of the fibers. Highly conductive fibers eventuate from increased graphitization, which increases the elastic modulus, but lowers the braidability; a balance between these factors must be achieved. Good quality braided preform bars have been fabricated and infiltrated, and their thermal expansion characterized; their analytic modeling is underway. The braided preform of an integral finned tube has been fabricated and is being prepared for infiltration.

Filatovs, G. J.↗

High compressive energy absorption and shape recovery behavior of additively manufactured textile-inspired cylindrical braided metamaterials

Mechanical metamaterials (MMs) are engineered structures with unique mechanical properties that arise from their unique spatial arrangement or lattice-like structure. The most commonly designed MMs such as honeycomb and re-entrant auxetics are prone to failure at the sharp corners and weak joints due to the increased stress concentration under deformation. To mitigate this challenge, braided MM structures involving intertwining threads of nylon—forming curved unit cells—have been studied. These textile-inspired cylindrical braided metamaterials (CBMMs) with contrasting unit cells, namely diamond and regular CBMMs, were fabricated by 3D printing. The layer-by-layer deposited structure built by fused filament fabrication delivered an assembly of overlapped threads that are fused at the contact point. To understand deformation behavior of these MMs, finite element models were developed for various load scenarios including quasi-static compression, cyclic and creep loads at room temperature. Stress distribution, deformation mechanisms, and failure modes were analyzed and validated by experiments to analyze the geometries and associated performance. The diamond CBMMs showed stress softening at 30 % compressive strain, withstanding a load of ∼440 N, whereas the regular CBMMs at 50 % strain experienced ∼250 N. The diamond CBMMs delivered higher creep resistance under sustained load and better energy absorption under cyclic loading than the regular CBMMs. The latter, however, exhibited 94 % shape recovery in contrast to 88 % recovery in former prototype during their first cyclic load. In conclusion, this study helps design mechanical lightweight devices that endure significant sustained load and exhibit enhanced energy absorption and shape recovery characteristics in cyclic loading.

Creep↗

NASA ACC High Energy Dynamic Impact Methodology and Outcomes

For High Energy Dynamic Impact (HEDI) events, testing to evaluate the structural response of primary aircraft structure for design and certification is both expensive and time consuming. This paper discusses current work seeking to assess, develop, and validate appropriate analytical models that accurately predict physical response, damage, and failure modes for large scale composite structures in HEDI events. Four state-of-the-art Progressive Damage Analysis (PDA) methods were employed for this phased project: LS-DYNA MAT162, LS-DYNA MAT261, Smoothed Particle Galerkin (SPG), and EMU Peridynamics. Multiple material systems were considered, namely T700/5208 textile-infusion triaxial braid, T800/AMD-825 textile-infusion triaxial braid, IM7/8552 uni-directional tape, and SPG 196-PW/8552 plain-weave fabric. Extensive ballistic impact testing was performed to support this activity and measured results were compared to predictive models for assessment using panel delamination, panel displacement, force at the load cells, and threshold velocity as measures. Ultimately, the work under this activity provided significant progress in advancing the state-of-the-art in the use of PDA for HEDI events. Each material model had favorable performance comparing to test in some parameters and needed improvement in others. With the lessons learned from this activity, significant progress was made in the ability to predict panel behavior for a more general case beyond the flat panel in a ballistic impact event. Subsequent Phase II of the NASA ACC HEDI effort will continue to build on the coupon testing, flat panel ballistic impact testing, and analysis performed to-date with application of the PDA methods for intended material selections to test articles with greater complexity of configuration, curvature, and scale. It is not the intention of this paper to present a full set of data, but rather to give an overview of the NASA HEDI effort and show a small representative subset of the test and analysis results.

Hunziker, Kenneth J.↗

Theoretical Control-Centric Modeling for Precision Model-Based Sliding Mode Control of a Hydraulic Artificial Muscle Actuator

Artificial muscles (AMs) typically rely on pneumatic sources of fluid power. The use of hydraulics can increase the power and force to weight and volume ratios of AM actuators. This paper develops a control-centric third-order single-input single-output (SISO) lumped-parameter dynamic model and sliding mode position controller based on Filippov's principle of equivalent dynamics for a braided hydraulic artificial muscle (HAM) actuator. The model predicts the nonlinear behavior of the HAM free contraction and captures the fluid and actuator nonlinear dynamic interactions in addition to the braid deformation. Model simulations are compared to experimental results for quasi-static pressurization, isometric pressurization, and open-loop square wave commands at 0.25, 0.5, and 1 Hz. Experiments of sine wave tracking at 0.25, 0.5, and 1 Hz and continuous square wave tracking at 0.067 Hz are conducted using a sliding mode controller (SMC) derived from the model. The SMC achieves a steady-state error of 6 μm at multiple setpoints within the actuator's 17 mm stroke. Compared to a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller, the SMC root-mean-square (RMS) error, mean error, and absolute maximum error are reduced on average by 53%, 61%, and 44%, respectively, demonstrating the benefit of model-based approaches for controlling HAMs.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Advanced resin systems and 3D textile preforms for low cost composite structures

Advanced resin systems and 3D textile preforms are being evaluated at Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Company (LASC) under NASA's Advanced Composites Technology (ACT) Program. This work is aimed towards the development of low-cost, damage-tolerant composite fuselage structures. Resin systems for resin transfer molding and powder epoxy towpreg materials are being evaluated for processability, performance and cost. Three developmental epoxy resin systems for resin transfer molding (RTM) and three resin systems for powder towpregging are being investigated. Various 3D textile preform architectures using advanced weaving and braiding processes are also being evaluated. Trials are being conducted with powdered towpreg, in 2D weaving and 3D braiding processes for their textile processability and their potential for fabrication in 'net shape' fuselage structures. The progress in advanced resin screening and textile preform development is reviewed here.

Shukla, J. G.↗

Characterization and manufacture of braided composites for large commercial aircraft structures

Braided composite materials has been recognized as a potential cost effective material form for fuselage structural elements. Consequently, there is a strong need for more knowledge in the design, manufacture, test, and analysis of textile structural composites. Advance braided composite technology is advanced towards applications to a large commercial transport fuselage. The mechanics are summarized of materials and manufacturing demonstration results which were obtained in order to acquire an understanding of how braided composites can be applied to a commercial fuselage. Textile composites consisting of 2-D, 2-D triaxial, and 3-D braid patterns with thermoplastic and two resin transfer molding resin systems were studied. The structural performance of braided composites was evaluated through an extensive mechanical test program. Analytical methods were also developed and applied to predict the following: internal fiber architecture; stiffness; fiber stresses; failure mechanisms; notch effects; and the history of failure of the braided composite specimens. The applicability of braided composites to a commercial transport fuselage was further assessed through a manufacturing demonstration.

Fedro, Mark J.↗

Structural Performance of a Compressively Loaded Foam-Core Hat-Stiffened Textile Composite Panel

A structurally efficient hat-stiffened panel concept that utilizes a structural foam as a stiffener core material has been designed and developed for aircraft primary structural applications. This stiffener concept is fabricated from textile composite material forms with a resin transfer molding process. This foam-filled hat-stiffener concept is structurally more efficient than most other prismatically stiffened panel configurations in a load range that is typical for both fuselage and wing structures. The panel design is based on woven/stitched and braided graphite-fiber textile preforms, an epoxy resin system, and Rohacell foam core. The structural response of this panel design was evaluated for its buckling and postbuckling behavior with and without low-speed impact damage. The results from single-stiffener and multi-stiffener specimen tests suggest that this structural concept responds to loading as anticipated and has excellent damage tolerance characteristics compared to a similar panel design made from preimpregnated graphite-epoxy tape material.

Ambur, Damodar R.↗

Polymer Infiltration Studies

Progress was made on the preparation of carbon fiber composites using advanced polymer resins. Processes reported include powder towpreg process, weaving towpreg made from dry powder prepreg, composite from powder coated towpreg, and toughening of polyimide resin (PMR) composites by semi-interpenetrating networks. Several important areas of polymer infiltration into fiber bundles will be researched. Preparation to towpreg for textile preform weaving and braiding and for automated tow placement is a major goal, as are the continued development of prepregging technology and the various aspects of composite part fabrication.

Marchello, Joseph M.↗