Bruno Castanié

Machinability and surface quality during high speed trimming of multi directional CFRP

In this paper, high speed trimming of a multidirectional CFRP using unused and used burr tools is considered in order to investigate the influence of the machining parameters (e.g., feed speed, cutting speed and cutting distance) on the cutting forces, machining temperature, and the machined surface quality. To estimate the effect of the tools’ wear and cutting parameters on the cutting forces and surface roughness, a statistical method (ANOVA) has been used. When considering an unused tool, the recorded temperatures were below the glass transition temperature of the composite material (Tg). In the case of used tools, these temperatures were mostly higher than the Tg. Furthermore, SEM observations of the machined surface showed damaged areas. These areas were wider when the cutting distance increased. Statistical analyses have shown that the machining parameters have a significant influence on the variation of the machined surface quality and the cutting forces.

Combined shear/compression structural testing of asymmetric sandwich structures

Asymmetric sandwich technology can be applied in the design of lightweight, non-pressurized aeronautical structures such as those of helicopters. A test rig of asymmetric sandwich structures subjected to compression/shear loads was designed, validated, and set up. It conforms to the standard certification procedure for composite aeronautical structures set out in the “test pyramid”, a multiscale approach. The static tests until failure showed asymmetric sandwich structures to be extremely resistant, which, in the case of the tested specimen shape, were characterized by the absence of buckling and failure compressive strains up to 10,000 μ strains. Specimens impacted with perforation damage were also tested, enabling the original phenomenon of crack propagation to be observed step-by-step. The results of the completed tests thus enable the concept to be validated, and justify the possibility of creating a much larger machine to overcome the drawbacks linked to the use of small specimens.

An adaptive model reduction strategy for post-buckling analysis of stiffened structures

The finite element simulation of structures subjected to post-buckling still faces computational limits, especially for large stiffened structures. Several solving strategies have already been proposed in response to this issue. Among them are the adaptive model reduction solving techniques which demonstrated their ability to drastically reduce the number of unknowns as well as to control the approximation error of solving non-linear problems like post-buckling. The challenges regarding these techniques are the computation of a reduced basis at lower cost, the use of an efficient adaptive procedure and the limitation of the number of call to the adaptive procedure. This paper proposes a Post-Buckling Adaptive Model Reduction (PBAMR) strategy, which requires only two initial Ritz vectors without compromising the accuracy of the simulation. This solving method is tested in the case of shear of a stiffened panel.

Surface Quality and Dust Analysis in High Speed Trimming of CFRP

In this work, high speed trimming of a multi directional carbon fiber reinforced plastic using a tungsten carbide burr tool is studied. The influence of the machining parameters on both the dust size and surface quality is investigated. A high percentage of dust is found under the theoretical chip size and the surface quality is found to be affected by the cutting parameters. The percentage of inhaled dust reaching the pulmonary alveoli is quantified and found to be very high, it is also found that this percentage is affected by the cutting conditions.

Discrete modeling of the crushing of nomex honeycomb core and application to impact and post-impact behavior of sandwich structures

In this chapter, an original method for modeling the behavior of sandwich structures during and after impact is proposed and validated. It is based on the demonstration that Nomex honeycomb behaves in a post-buckling mode very early and that compression forces are taken up by the corners or vertical edges of the honeycomb cells in the same way as they are in the stiffeners in aircraft structures. Thus it is possible to represent the honeycomb discretely by a grid of springs located at the six corners of hexagonal cells. This approach represents the phenomenon of indentation on honeycomb alone or on sandwiches very well. This approach provides an understanding of how the sandwich and the core behave under compression after impact. An original criterion based on a local core crush is tested and validated to compute the residual strength. To consider the bending response of sandwich structures, a multi-level approach is also proposed.

Influence of Tool Geometry and Machining Parameters on the Surface Quality and the Effect of Surface Quality on Compressive Strength of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic

In this chapter the influence of tool geometry and cutting conditions on cutting forces, surface defects and the percetage of dust generated durring trimming and reaching the pulmonary alveoli is investigated. The surface defects were analysed using a scanning electron microscope and diferent surface roughness measurement devices. It was observed that these leters were highly depend on the cutting condition and the tool geometry, and more important that the effect of cutting parameters can be completely diferent from a tool to an other or even when considering different ranges of cutting parameters (standard cutting speed and high cutting speed). The compressive strenght after machining is also investigated. It is observed that whatever tool geometry, cutting conditions, surface roughnesses (defects) are, the response still the same for all the composite samples except for those machined at cutting temperatures higher than the glass fiber transition.

An Experimental-Numerical Approach of the Metallic Insert in CFRP/Honeycomb Sandwich Structures under Normal Tensile Load

Sandwich structures are widely used in the aerospace field, also for primary parts. However, due to the low strength of core properties, the failure behavior under high stress concentration such as joining position is hard to evaluate. This study is, at present, a key task to enable future exploitation of the joint for structural sandwich consisted of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) face and a Honeycomb core made of phenolic impregnated NomexTM paper. Previous experimental investigations provided the failure mechanism of sandwich plates with hard points in the form of inserts, and special attention is focused on the problem of sandwich panels with inserts of the fully potted types. Numerical simulations are achieved in this work with good correlation based on experimental test.

Damage Mechanics Modelling of the shear nonlinear behavior of Nomex honeycomb core. Application to sandwich beams

ABSTRACT In this work, a modelling strategy based on damage mechanics is presented for Nomex honeycomb core. The proposed approach is based on the experimental analysis presented by the authors in [1] and consists of the decoupled modelling of the buckling and collapse of cells for the HRH-78 Nomex honeycomb core with two damage parameters. The proposed approach shows good agreement with the experimental tests. The computational cost is low, proving the efficacy of this technique. This strategy may avoid using full 3D models that mimic the real shape and is a step toward a full compression/shear nonlinear model for honeycomb core.

Experimental analysis of impact and post-impact behaviour of inserts in Carbon sandwich structures

In aeronautics, honeycomb sandwich structures are widely used for secondary structures such as landing gear doors, flaps or floors, and for primary structures in helicopters or business jets. These structures are generally joined by using local reinforcements of the insert type. In the present study, 50 J low velocity impact tests were performed on inserts using a drop-weight device and the impact response and failure patterns were analysed. Impacted specimens were then pull-through tested to failure. Some of the tests were stopped before final failure in order to obtain precise details on the failure scenario. It was shown that, in the cases studied, the residual strength after impact was very high (about 90%) in comparison to the large reductions habitually observed in compression after impact tests.