Buckling Analysis of Composite Reinforced Panels of the Aircraft with Local Defects

Design of the Flying Vehicles Elements from Polymer Composite Materials


Аuthors

Kazakov I. A.

Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after N.E. Zhukovsky (TsAGI), 1, Zhukovsky str., Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, 140180, Russia

e-mail: normist@tsagi.ru

Abstract

Reinforced thin-walled panels from polymer composite materials are widely used in the load bearing elements of the aircraft airframe. High specific characteristics of strength and stiffness of these composite materials allow ensuring high weight efficiency compared to panels from conventional metal alloys. The main disadvantage of polymer composites is the impact of technological and operational defects of mechanical characteristics of the structure elements. Low-velocity impact damages may lead to a significant residual strength reduction. 
One of the most common types of defects in composite panels is a skin-stringer separation, called debonding. Due to the significant difference in stiffness between the stringer and the skin, major stresses arise in the coupling layer. When reaching a certain size, this defect leads to the significant strength and stability degradation of the stringer panel. Local skin buckling may occur herewith. To prevent further damage development the stringer-skin coupling is being extra reinforced by the rivets or transverse broaching.
The article proposes a simplified method for the critical buckling load computing of stiffened composite panels with account for the effects of the small-size defects. The authors consider damages of the skin, stringer, as well as defect of the stringer-skin debounding type. The problem solution is based on the Rayleigh–Ritz energy method with global approximating functions. An option of applying special local functions for the displacements approximation in the defect region is proposed. Application of these functions allows improving the solution convergence. 
Computations of the critical composite stringer panel buckling loads under the impact of compression and shear were performed. Based on the proposed method, critical buckling load computations were performed for composite panels with various sizes of the skin-stringer debonding zone. Comparison with the reesults, obtained with the finite element method in the Femap program with the Nastran solver, was made. Buckling analysis of the stiffened composite panels and comparison with results reported in the literature were performed. The results were compared with various types of the damages impact experimental data. The proposed method may be applied at the early design stages to assess the defects impact on the composite panels buckling.

Keywords:

buckling analysis, composite reinforced panels, simplified models of local defects, skin-stringer debonding

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