Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Chlorinated Polyethylene Honeycomb Mechanical Performance as Opposed to an Aluminum Alloy Design

Abstract

Manufacturing aircraft components through 3D printing has become a widespread concept with proven applicability for serial production of certain structural parts. The main objective of the research study is to determine whether a chlorinated polyethylene material reinforced with milled carbon fibers has the potential of replacing the current 5052 NIDA aluminum alloy core of the IAR330 helicopter tail rotor blade, under the form of a honeycomb structure with hexagonal cells. Achieving this purpose implied determining the tensile and compression mechanical properties of the material realized by fused deposition modeling. The tensile tests have been conducted on specimens manufactured on three printing directions, so that the orthotropic nature of the material may be taken into account. The bare compression tests were realized on specimens manufactured from both materials, with similar honeycomb characteristics. All the mechanical tests have been performed on the Instron 8872 servo hydraulic testing system and the results have been evaluated with the Dantec Q400 Digital Image Correlation system. The experimental tests have been reproduced as finite element analyses which have been validated by results comparison, in order to determine if the compression model is viable for more complex numerical analysis.

A Novel Composite Helicopter Tail Rotor Blade with Enhanced Mechanical Properties

“…The proposed new structure is made of a carbon-roving spar embedded with epoxy resin, a hexagonal-cell honeycomb core manufactured by fused deposition modelling, and an outer skin made by hand lay-up of multiple carbon-fibre-reinforced laminae. A numerical model of the composite tail rotor blade is developed at a scale of 1:3 using tensile, bending, and compression mechanical properties previously obtained in several mechanical tests [31,32]. The model is validated using experimental measurements made on a blade manufactured by the authors.…”

“…Table 2 contains the mechanical properties which were previously determined from tensile and compression tests, carried out in the Strength of Materials Laboratory from the University Politehnica of Bucharest [31,32]. The tensile properties of each material were determined in accordance with the ASTM D3039 standard for composite tensile testing [38] using an Instron 8872 servo-hydraulic testing system, with a load cell of 100 kN.…”