Design and similitude study of composite sandwich beam

Mondal, Aninda Suvra (2016) Design and similitude study of composite sandwich beam. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (1MB)

Abstract

In this study, failure mode maps of composite sandwich panels are examined. Using Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, theoretical models are developed. The developed models are validated with established models in the literature. The models are compared with the established models using experimental data from literature. By comparing the developed models with the established models, it is concluded that the described models provide sufficient accurate results. Failure mode maps are constructed by using the non-dimensional form of the developed models. This concept of failure mode map is extended to provide a useful design tool for composite sandwich beam manufacturers. Also in this study, scaling laws are derived for a composite sandwich beam using the rules of similitude. Scaling laws define the relationships between a small specimen and a larger prototype structure. By using these scaling laws, it is possible to design a small scale model and by extrapolating the data from the small scale model, the behavior of a large scale prototype can be predicted. In the current study, similitude conditions for composite sandwich beams are developed for three loading conditions, uniformly distributed load, shear load and moment. To test the scaling laws a three-point bending test and a four-point bending test are taken from literature . Finite element analysis is used to obtain the stress distributions through the thickness of these composite sandwich models. Using the similitude conditions larger prototype of these models are created. Through-the-thickness stresses between the model and the prototype are compared and found to be in excellent agreement.

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