Key Engineering Materials Vols. 326-328

Abstract: Fatigue fracture behavior of a hybrid composite joint with riveting was evaluated in comparison to the case of static fracture. Hybrid composite joint specimens for shear test were made with layers of carbon fiber/epoxy composite and stainless steel. Characteristic fracture behaviors of those specimens were obviously different under static and cyclic loads. Static shear loading showed the fracture of a pure shear mode, whereas cyclic fatigue-shear loading caused the local stress concentration of a tensile mode and thus brought about the tensile fracture at that site. Experimental results obtained by static and fatigue tests were considered in modifications of design parameters of the hybrid joint.

Abstract: The concept of light weight design will be very helpful for the tilting train to travel around a curve at a faster speed because the light weight car body makes the center of gravity lower. The impact characteristics of composite materials should be investigated because the impact property of composites is very important. This paper investigates the low-velocity impact characteristics and residual strength conducted on honeycomb sandwich panels. Low-velocity impact tests were carried out at different energy levels on honeycomb sandwich panels using a drop-weight apparatus. The impact-induced damages such as fiber breakage, matrix crack and delamination are examined with an optical microscope apparatus. Residual strength was evaluated by applying three point bending load to honeycomb sandwich panels. Experimental results show that the residual strength is greatly reduced as the impact energy increases. From the microscopic observation data, matrix crack, fiber breakage and delamination are the main impact damages of honeycomb sandwich panels.

Abstract: The dynamic instability behavior of delaminated composite plates under transverse excitations was investigated experimentally and analytically. An electromagnetic device, acting like a spring with alternating stiffness, was used to parametrically excite the delaminated composite plates transversely. An analytical method, combined with the finite element method, was used to determine the instability regions of the delaminated composite plates based on the modal parameters of the composite plate and the position, the stiffness of the electromagnetic device. The delamination size and position of composite plates were varied to assess their effects on the excitation frequencies of simple and combination resonances in instability regions. The experimental results were found to agree with the analytical ones.

Abstract: A micro mechanical study of Carbon/Epoxy composites with internally dropped plies has been made using micro-moiré interferometry. The experimental results show that there is a stress concentration region before the dropped ply. Micro cracks were initiated and propagated in this region. Two failure mechanisms in the dropped ply region were observed.

Abstract: Progressive failure analysis based on the complete unloading method was conducted to investigate the crippling failure of carbon/epoxy composite stiffeners under axial compression. A modified arc-length algorithm was incorporated into a nonlinear finite element method to trace the equilibrium path after local buckling. For the validation of the finite element method, several carbon/epoxy Z-section stiffeners were tested in compression. The finite element results on the buckling and crippling stresses showed good agreement with the experimental results.

Abstract: As these composites have become more popular, composite joint design has become a very important research area, as these joints are often the weakest parts of composite structures. In this paper, the strength of a composite laminated bolted joint being subjected to a clamping force was tested and predicted using the FAI (Failure Area Index) method. The strengths of composite joints subjected to clamping forces on different geometric shapes and dimensions were predicted using the FAI method, and the results were compared with experimental results. From the tests and analyses, the strength of a given composite laminated bolted joint subjected to a clamping force could be predicted within 22.5% via the FAI method.

Abstract: Geomechanics model test can simulate the real excavation process of geotechnical engineering and the mechanics deformation properties of the rockmass prototype on the condition of meeting the similar principles. In order to conducting geomechanics model test, similar material which can meet similar mechanical properties must be used. It is only after conducting a massive mechanics experiments that a new-type similar materials called iron crystal sand is developed in this paper. This material consists of iron ore powder, blanc fix, quartz sand, gypsum powder and rosin alcohol solution which are evenly mixed in certain proportion and pressed together. The iron ore powder, blanc fix and quartz sand among them are main materials. The rosin alcohol solution is the cementing agent and gypsum powder the regulator. The material mechanics experiments show that this material has following outstanding characteristics: high volume-weight, wide variable mechanical parameters, stable performance, low price, quick drying, simple processing and innocuity. It can simulate most rockmass material from soft to hard ones and can be widely used in geomechanics model tests in fields of energy sources, transportation, water conservancy and mining.

Abstract: Polymeric carbon nanotube composites constitute one of the most promising alternatives to conventional filled polymers. The dispersion of nanometer-sized carbon nanotubes in a polymer matrix markedly improves its physical properties. This approach can also be applied to biodegradable synthetic aliphatic polyesters such as poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), which has been receiving an increasing amount of attention due to environmental concerns. In this study, the mechanical properties of PLLA were enhanced by the incorporation of a small amount of carbon nanotubes (0.8 wt%) in the solution state, which could make this material a good competitor for commodity materials such as general purpose plastics, while allowing it to retain its biodegradability. In order to obtain a homogeneous dispersion of the carbon nanotubes in the matrix, oxygen-containing groups were introduced on the surface of the MWNTs. The good dispersion of the nanotubes in the PLLA matrix observed by scanning electron microscopy was attributed to the fact that the PLLA was compatible with the functionalized MWNTs during the compounding process. The electrical conductivity of the composites was also investigated.

Abstract: Carbon/phenolic composite (CPC) materials have obvious advantages over conventional materials, which are consisting of carbon fibers embedded in a carbon matrix. The CPCs have become to be utilized as parts of aerospace applications and its low density, high thermal conductivity and excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperatures make it an ideal material for aircraft brake disks. Because of permeation of coupling medium such as water, it is desirable to perform contact-less nondestructive evaluation to assess material properties and part homogeneity. In this work, a C/P(Carbon/phenolic) composite material was characterized with non-contact and contact ultrasonic methods using automated acquisition scanner. Also through transmission mode was performed because of the main limitation for air-coupled transducers, which is the acoustic impedance mismatch between most materials and air. Especially ultrasonic images and velocities for C/C(Carbon/Carbon) composite disk brake was measured and found to be consistent to some degree with the non-contact and contact ultrasonic measurement methods. Low frequency throughtransmission scans based on both amplitude and time-of-flight of the ultrasonic pulse were used for mapping out the material property inhomogeneity. Measured results were compared with those obtained by the motorized system with using dry-coupling ultrasonics and through transmission method in immersion. Finally, results using a proposed peak-delay measurement method well corresponded to ultrasonic velocities of the pulse overlap method.

Abstract: This paper deals with the damage behavior of glass/epoxy composite laminates subjected to low-velocity impact at various temperatures. For this goal, the impact tests were performed by using an instrumented impact-testing machine at three temperatures: +20°C, -10°C and -40°C. And the resultant damages were inspected through the scanning acoustic microscope (SAM). Also, based on the impact force history and the damage configuration of the laminates, the impact resistance parameters were employed to evaluate damage resistance of glass/epoxy laminates. As results, it was found that the temperature changes affect the damage resistance capacity of glass/epoxy laminates.