A Numerical and Experimental Study of Compression-Loaded Composite Panels with Cutouts

Abstract

Results from a numerical and experimental study on the effects of laminate orthotropy and circular cutout size on the response of compression-loaded composite curved panels are presented.Several 60-in-radius composite panels with four different laminate configurations were tested with cutout diameters that range from 10% to 60% of the panel width. Finite-element analyses were performed for each panel in order to identify the effects boundary conditions, measured initial geometric imperfections and thickness variations had on the nonlinear and buckling behavior of the panels. The compression-loaded panels considered herein exhibited two separate types of behavior depending on the laminate stacking sequence and cutout size. More specifically, some of the panels exhibited the classical "snap-through" type buckling response; however, some of the panels exhibited a monotonically increasing stable response and achieved compressive loads in excess of twice the predicted linear bifurcation buckling load. In general, the finite-element analyses were able to predict accurately the nonlinear response and buckling loads of the panels and the prebuckling and postbuckling out-of-plane deformations and strains.

Effect of cutout on stochastic natural frequency of composite curved panels

“…primarily confined to buckling and free vibration analysis of composite plates in a deterministic framework. Thornburgh and Hilburger [10] carried out both experimental as well as numerical studies of composite panels with cutouts subjected to compressive load while Dimopoulos and Gantes [11] employed the numerical methods to design the cylindrical steel shells with cutouts. The deterministic free vibration analyses of laminated composite shells with cutout are studied by many researchers [12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”