Otto Bergsma

Friction Experiments for Filament Winding Applications

The design procedure of nongeodesic filament wound products requires well-determined values for the available friction situated between the applied roving and the supporting surface. In this paper, we propose a mandrel shape with a specially designed meridian profile that enables a linearly proportional relation between the feed eye carriage translation and the measured values for the coefficients of friction. As a result of this property, the optically or chronometrically obtained measurements can directly be translated into coefficients of friction. Additional features of this approach are the high accuracy, repeatability, low experimental costs, and simple machine control strategies. With the proposed mandrel, we performed several experiments corresponding to the variation of typical filament winding-related process parameters: fiber speed, roving tension, roving dimensions, wet versus dry winding, and surface quality of the mandrel. The results indicate that the surface quality of the mandrel and the type of winding process (wet vs. dry fibers) have a considerable influence on the obtained data. The influence of the fiber speed, roving tension, and fiber material on the other hand, is negligible.

Optimization of sandwich composites fuselages under flight loads

The sandwich composites fuselages appear to be a promising choice for the future aircrafts because of their structural efficiency and functional integration advantages. However, the design of sandwich composites is more complex than other structures because of many involved variables. In this paper, the fuselage is designed as a sandwich composites cylinder, and its structural optimization using the finite element method (FEM) is outlined to obtain the minimum weight. The constraints include structural stability and the composites failure criteria. In order to get a verification baseline for the FEM analysis, the stability of sandwich structures is studied and the optimal design is performed based on the analytical formulae. Then, the predicted buckling loads and the optimization results obtained from a FEM model are compared with that from the analytical formulas, and a good agreement is achieved. A detailed parametric optimal design for the sandwich composites cylinder is conducted. The optimization method used here includes two steps: the minimization of the layer thickness followed by tailoring of the fiber orientation. The factors comprise layer number, fiber orientation, core thickness, frame dimension and spacing. Results show that the two-step optimization is an effective method for the sandwich composites and the foam sandwich cylinder with core thickness of 5xa0mm and frame pitch of 0.5xa0m exhibits the minimum weight.

Sound Transmission Loss Prediction of the Composite Fuselage with Different Methods

Increase of sound transmission loss(TL) of the fuselage is vital to build a comfortable cabin environment. In this paper, to find a convenient and accurate means for predicting the fuselage TL, the fuselage is modeled as a composite cylinder, and its TL is predicted with the analytical, the statistic energy analysis (SEA) and the hybrid FE&SEA method. The TL results predicted by the three methods are compared to each other and they show good agreement, but in terms of model building the SEA method is the most convenient one. Therefore, the parameters including the layup, the materials, the geometry, and the structure type are studied with the SEA method. It is observed that asymmetric laminates provide better sound insulation in general. It is further found that glass fiber laminates result in the best sound insulation as compared with graphite and aramid fiber laminates. In addition, the cylinder length has little influence on the sound insulation, while an increase of the radius considerably reduces the TL at low frequencies. Finally, by a comparison among an unstiffened laminate, a sandwich panel and a stiffened panel, the sandwich panel presents the largest TL at high frequencies and the stiffened panel demonstrates the poorest sound insulation at all frequencies.

Comparative study of adhesive joint designs for composite trusses based on numerical models

In the context of lightweight structure design for the transportation and robotics industries, new types of composite structures are being developed, in the form of trusses made of fiber-reinforced polymer composite members of small diameter (a few millimeters thick at most). Some concepts of wound trusses can be found in the literature, but in more general cases, for which a predefined wound truss shape is not usable, individual truss members must be joined together. The axial strength of the composite members allow them to carry a high load, and the joints between those members should be strong enough to carry this load as well. With the objective of developing an efficient joint design for an application in thin composite trusses (member thickness ranging from 0.5 to 5xa0mm), finite element models of several adhesive joint designs were built, and their strengths were compared. The comparison was made using the same joint configuration (number of members, member cross-sectional area, joint dimensions) and loading conditions. Adhesive failure was considered in this study, and the strength of each design was determined from the value of the peak maximum principal strain in the adhesive layer, as this failure criterion is suitable for the toughened adhesive material used in the models. A trade-off between the strength, weight and manufacturability of each joint design was made in order to conclude on their overall performance. Results suggested that, among the joint designs modelled, round-based composite rods inserted in a tubular metallic piece are the most efficient in terms of strength-to-weight ratio.

Understanding piezoelectric composite–based actuators with nonlinear and 90° domain walls effects

Piezoelectric materials possess nonlinear behavior when actuated in a large electric field and show a large deflection when embedded inside a composite laminate such as a LIghtweight Piezoelectric Composite Actuator. Linear and nonlinear COMSOL multi-physics finite element models were developed and validated using the actuation response of three different layups of LIghtweight Piezoelectric Composite Actuators under a cantilever beam configuration. The linear model incorporated the linear piezoelectric coefficient given from the manufacturer, while the nonlinear model incorporated the nonlinear piezoelectric coefficient plus permanent strain offset in the piezoelectric material as a result of a high applied electric field. The linear model significantly underestimated the experimental values of the actuator response and it showed that taking nonlinearity and permanent strain offset into account is an essential practice when an actuator is operated in high electric fields and accurate prediction is required.

The sound insulation of composite cylindrical shells; a comparison between a laminated and a sandwich cylinder

The fuselages of aircraft are modeled as cylinders in this paper, and the sound insulations of a sandwich cylinder and a laminated cylinder are studied both experimentally and numerically. The cylinders are excited by an acoustic pressure and a mechanical force respectively. Results show that under acoustic excitation, the sandwich cylinder and the laminated one have a similar sound insulation below 3000 Hz, but the sandwich cylinder has a much larger sound insulation at higher frequencies. Under mechanical excitation, the sandwich cylinder is also more beneficial, showing a larger sound insulation above 800 Hz.