Paper number 980

THE DESIGN, MANUFACTURE AND TEST OF A TAPERED COMPOSITE I-BEAM

Graham F.J. Hill, Michael R. Wisnom, Mike Jones

Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, Queen's Building, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TR, UK

Summary A tapered composite I-beam was designed, manufactured and tested in four-point bending. The intention was to produce a structural element representing a curved flange to web connection which would fail in delamination and which could be used to validate failure predictions from finite element analysis. The design process involved the construction of numerous finite element models investigating various geometries before the final design was reached. The specimen was manufactured using carbon fibre composite HTA/913C pre-preg and tested in four-point bending. Initial failure occurred by delamination in the area intended at a load slightly higher than that anticipated from the design process.
Keywords finite element analysis, beam, delamination, flange-web joint, doubly curved laminate.

Theme : Composite Structures ; Modelling

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