• Composites Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2008

This paper presents the evaluation of crashworthiness and rollover characteristics of low-floor bus vehicles made of aluminum honeycomb sandwich composites with glass-fabric epoxy laminate facesheets. Crashworthiness and rollover analysis of low-floor bus was carried out using explicit finite element analysis code LS-DYNA3D with the lapse of time. Material testing was conducted to determine the input parameters for the composite laminate facesheet model, and the effective equivalent damage model for the orthotropic honeycomb core material. The crash conditions of low-floor bus were frontal accident with speed of 60km/h. Rollover analysis were conducted according to the safety rules of European standard (ECE-R66). The results showed that the survival space for driver and passengers was secured against frontal crashworthiness and rollover of low-floor bus. Also, The modified Chang-Chang failure criterion is recommended to predict the failure mode of composite structures for crashworthiness and rollover analysis.

• Composites Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.116-122
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• 2013

In this study, impact behavior of aluminium and glass-fiber structure is studied under low impact velocity. Compression test is carried out to investigate the compressive strength of the specimens. The degree of damage is observed using microscopy and compared with the experimental analysis data. The maximum load capacity, impact strength and elastic energy of glass-fiber honeycomb sandwich panel are more than the aluminium honeycomb sandwich panel.

• Composites Research
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.15-22
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• 2008

This paper describes the results of structural integrity and crashworthiness of Automatic Guideway Transit(AGT) vehicle made of sandwich composites. The applied sandwich composite of vehicle structure was composed of aluminum honeycomb core and WR580/NF4000 glass fabric/epoxy laminate composite facesheet. Material testing was conducted to determine the input parameters for the composite facesheet model, and the effective equivalent damage model fer the orthotropic honeycomb core material. The finite element analysis using ANSYS v11.0 was dont to evaluate structural integrity of AGT vehicle according to JIS E 7105 and ASCE 21-98. Crashworthiness analysis was carried out using explicit finite element code LS-DYNA3D with the lapse of time. The crash condition was frontal accident with speed of 10km/h at rigid wall. The results showed that the structural integrity and crashworthiness of AGT vehicle were proven under the specified loading and crash conditions. Also, the modified Chang-Chang failure criterion was recommended to evaluate the failure modes of composite structures after crashworthiness event.

• Composites Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.42-50
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• 2007

This paper describes the results of experiments and numerical simulation studies on the low-velocity impact damage of two different sandwich composite panels for application to bodyshell and floor structure of the BIMODAL tram vehicle. Square test samples of 100mm sides were subjected to low-velocity impact loading using an instrumented testing machine at four impact energy levels. Part of this work presented is focused on the finite element analysis of low-velocity impact response onto a sandwich composite panels. It is based on the application of explicit finite element (FE) analysis codes LS-DYNA 3D to study the impact response of sandwich structures under low-velocity impact conditions. Material testing was conducted to determine the input parameters for the metallic and composite material model, and the effective equivalent damage model for the orthotropic honeycomb materials. Numerical and experimental results showed a good agreement for damage area and the depth of indentation of sandwich composite panels created by the impact loading.

• Composites Research
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1-8
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• 2001

In this paper, the sandwich panel composites consisting of core material and face sheet were studied to evaluate the mechanical properties, noise level and fire resistance including flammability, smoke, and toxicity. Four types of sandwich panel were prepared using various kinds of panel and honeycomb materials. It was observed that Al honeycomb/Al skin composite materials had the excellent flatwise tensile strength and edgewise compressive strength compared with other types of composites. The flatwise compressive strength and flexural strength of Nomex honeycomb/Al skin composite were higher than those of other composites. PMI form/Al skin composite showed the higher core shear strength and facing bending strength. From the experimental results of flame resistance tests, it can be said that the phenol based skin composite has the excellent flame retardation properties, which are similar to those of the commercial skin composites.

• Composites Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 2013

This paper presents the fabrication and 3-point flexion testing of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite face/aluminum honeycomb core sandwich panels. Specimen sandwich panels were fabricated with three honeycomb types (3.18 mm, 4.76 mm, and 6.35 mm cell size) and three panel radii (flat, r = 1.6 m, r = 1.3 m). The curved sandwiches were fabricated normally with the core in the W-direction. The tensile mechanical properties of the CFRP $2{\times}2$ twill fabric face laminate were evaluated (modulus, strength, Poisson's ratio). The measured values are comparable to other CFRP fabric laminates. The flat sandwich 3-point flexion test core shear strength results were 11-30% lower than the manufacturer published data; the test set-up used may be the cause. With a limited sample size, the 1.3 meter panel curvature appeared to cause a 0.8-3.8% reduction in ultimate core shear strength compared to a flat panel.

• Composites Research
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.9-16
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• 2011

This paper describes the crashworthiness evaluation and performance improvement of tilting train made of sandwich composites. The applied sandwich composite of carbody structure was composed of aluminum honeycomb core and glass/epoxy & carbon/epoxy laminate composite facesheet. Crashworthiness analysis of tilting train was carried out using explicit finite element analysis code LS-DYNA 3D. The 3D finite element model and 1D equivalent model were applied to save the finite element modeling and calculation time for crash analysis. The crash conditions of tilting train were conducted according to four crash scenarios of the Korean railway safety law. It found that the crashworthiness analysis results were satisfied with the performance requirements except the crash scenario-2. In order to meet the crashworthiness requirements for crash scenario-2, the stiffness reinforcement for the laminate composite cover and metal frames of cabmask structure was proposed. Consequentially, it has satisfied the requirement for crash scenario-2.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.518-525
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• 2009

This paper describes the evaluation of structural performance test and finite element analysis to verify the design of Bimodal Tram made of sandwich composites. The sandwich composite applied to vehicle structure was composed of a aluminum honeycomb core and WR580/NF4000 glass fabric/epoxy laminate composite facesheet. The load tests of vehicle structure were conducted for vertical load, compressive load, torsion and modal analysis according to JlS E 7105. The structural Integrity of vehicle was evaluated by the measurement of displacement, stress and natural frequency obtained from dial gauge, strain gauge and gravity sensor, respectively. And finite element analysis using ANSYS v11.0 was done to compare with structural test. The results showed that the displacement, stress and natural frequency were in an good agreement with those of structural analysis using the proposed finite element models.

• Composites Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.1-7
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• 2009

The vehicle structure of Automated People Mover(APM) made of aluminum honeycomb sandwich with WR580INF4000 glass-fabric epoxy laminate facesheets was evaluated by structural test and finite element analysis. The test of the vehicle structure was conducted according to JIS E 7105. The structural integrity of vehicle structure was evaluated by stress, deflection and natural frequency obtained from dial-gauge and acceleration sensor. And the proposed finite element models were compared with the results of structural test. The results of finite element analysis showed good agreement with those of structural test. Also, in order to improve the stiffness of vehicle structure, the modified underframe model with reinforced side sill was proposed in design stage. The composite vehicle structures with modified underframe model had the improved structural stiffness about 44%.