• Composites Research
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.222-228
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• 2019

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system has many potential uses as an environmentally friendly power source. Carbon fiber composite bipolar plates are highly corrosion resistant and have high specific strength and stiffness in acidic environments, however, the relatively low electrical conductivity is a major issue which reduces the efficiency of PEMFC. In this study, electrically conductive particles (graphite powder and carbon black) are applied to carbon-epoxy composite prepregs to reduce the electrical resistance of the bipolar plates. The electrical resistance and mechanical properties are measured using conventional test methods, and a unit cell performance evaluation of developed carbon composite bipolar plates is performed to compare with the conventional bipolar plate.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.147-158
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• 2004

For stiffened plates composed of composite materials, many researchers have used a finite element method which connected isoparametric plate elements and beam elements. However, the finite element method is difficult to reflect local behavior of stiffener because beam elements are transferred stiffness for nodal point of plate elements, especially the application is limited in case of laminated composite structures. In this paper, for analysis of laminated composite stiffened plates, 3D shell elements for stiffener and plate are employed. Reissner-Mindlin's first order shear deformation theory is considered in this study. But when thickness will be thin, isoparamatric plate bending element based on the theory of Reissner-Mindlin is generated by transverse shear locking. To eliminate the shear locking and virtual zero energy mode, the substitute shear strain field is used. A deflection distribution is investigated for simple supported rectangular and skew stiffened laminated composite plates with arbitrary orientation stiffener as not only variation of slenderness and aspect ratio of the plate but also variation of skew angle of skew stiffened plates.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.39-44
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• 2013

This study is aimed to examine the influence of the rotational stiffness of U-shaped ribs on the local buckling behaviors of laminated composite plates. Applying the orthotropic plates with eight layers of the layup $[(0^{\circ})4]s$ and $[(0^{\circ}/90^{\circ})2]s$, 3-dimensional finite element models for the U-rib stiffened plates were setup by using ABAQUS and then a series of eigenvalue analyses were conducted. There is a need to develope a simple design equation to establish the rotational stiffness effect, which could be easily quantified by comparing the theoretical critical stress equation for laminated composite plates with elastic restraints based on the Classical laminated plate theory. Through the parametric numerical studies, it is confirmed that there should clearly exist an increasing effect of local plate buckling strength due to the rotational stiffness by closed-section ribs. An applicable coefficient for practical design should be verified and proposed for future study. This study will contribute to the future study for establishing an increasing coefficient for the design strength and optimum design of U-rib stiffened plates.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2012

Even though the longitudinally stiffened laminated composite plates with closed section ribs should be an effective system for axially compressed members, the existing researches on the applications of closed-section ribs, especially for the laminated composite plates, are not sufficient. This study is aimed to examine the influence of the sectional stiffness of U-shaped ribs on the buckling modes and strengths of laminated composite plates. Applying the orthotropic plates with eight layers of the layup $[(0^{\circ})_4]_s$ and $[(0^{\circ}/90^{\circ})_2]_s$, 3-dimensional finite element models for the U-rib stiffened plates were setup by using ABAQUS and then a series of eigenvalue analyses were conducted. From the parametric studies, the minimum required ply thicknesses as well as the buckling strengths were presented for the analysis models. The buckling strengths were compared with the theoretical critical stress equation for simply supported plates based on the Classical laminated plate theory. This study will contribute to the future study for evaluating the minimum required stiffness and optimum design of U-rib stiffened plates.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.443-455
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• 2001

An energy method has been used for an elastic formulation of bending vibration and buckling analysis of laminated composite plates on two-parameter elastic foundations. A quasi-elastic method is used for the solution of viscoelastic analysis of the laminated composite plates. The third-order shear deformation theory is applied by using the double-fourier series. To validate the derived equations the obtained displacements for simply supported orthotropic plates on elastic foundations are compared with those of LUSAS program Numerical results of the viscoelastic bending vibration and buckling analysis are presented to show the effects of layup sequence number of layers material anisotropy and shear modulus of foundations.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.63-82
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• 2016

In this study, the bending and dynamic behaviors of laminated composite plates is examined by using a refined shear deformation theory and developed for a bending analysis of orthotropic laminated composite plates under various boundary conditions. The displacement field of the present theory is chosen based on nonlinear variations in the in-plane displacements through the thickness of the plate. By dividing the transverse displacement into the bending and shear parts and making further assumptions, the number of unknowns and equations of motion of the present theory is reduced and hence makes them simple to use. In the analysis, the equation of motion for simply supported thick laminated rectangular plates is obtained through the use of Hamilton's principle. Numerical results for the bending and dynamic behaviors of antisymmetric cross-ply laminated plate under various boundary conditions are presented. The validity of the present solution is demonstrated by comparison with solutions available in the literature. Numerical results show that the present theory can archive accuracy comparable to the existing higher order shear deformation theories that contain more number of unknowns.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.3
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• pp.343-354
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• 2022

An understanding of the mechanism of concrete girders repaired with CFRP plates and its influence on the dynamic parameters is presented in this paper. Dynamic parameters are governed by the relationship with the physical properties of concrete girders and CFRP plates as well as the adhesive layer between them. A brief explanation of the mechanism of the composite action of concrete girders repaired with CFRP is also given in this paper. Experimental work was carried out to validate the theory of the composite action. The results show a decrease in the modal parameters of CFRP repaired girders that were turned over during the repair procedure, which contrasts with the proven static-based results that CFRP plates increase the stiffness of repaired girders. The composite action theory has explained the results based on the tension and compression forces' growth at the adhesive layer between the CFRP plates and girder surface during the repair procedure. Other girders were prepared and repaired without turning over in order to avoid tension and compression forces at the adhesive layer. The experimental results show an increase in the dynamic parameters of CFRP repaired girders that were not turned over during the repair procedure, which aligns with the static-based results. The study concludes that the dynamic parameters are excellent indicators for the assessment of CFRP repaired concrete girders. The study also suggests that researchers should not turn over damaged concrete girders to repair them with CFRP plates if they intend to study the dynamic parameters, in order to avoid the proposed composite action effect on modal parameters.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 2022

In this paper, a nonlinear numerical method to solve the large deflection problem is introduced. And the non-dimensional load-deflection behavior of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) plates is parametrically investigated. The large deflection problem is formulated according to the von Kármán nonlinear theory and the (1,1,0)^* hierarchical model, and it is approximated by 2-D natural element method (NEM). The shear locking phenomenon is suppressed by the selectively reduced integration method. The nonlinear matrix equations are solved by combining the incremental loading scheme and the Newton-Raphson iteration method. The proposed method is validated from the benchmark experiments, where the propose method shows an excellent agreement with the reference methods. The nonlinear behavior of FG-CNTRC plates is evaluated in terms of the non-dimensional load-deflection curve, and it is parametrically investigated with respect to the existence/non-existence and gradient pattern of CNTs, the width-to-thickness and aspect ratios of plates and the type of boundary conditions. The non-dimensional central deflection is significantly reduced when CNTs and added, and it decreases with the volume fraction of CNTs. But, it shows a uniform increase in proportion to the width-to-thickness and aspect ratios. Both the gradient pattern of CNTs and the type of boundary conditions do also show the remarkable effects.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.461-477
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• 2016

Steel-concrete-steel (SCS) sandwich composite wall has been proposed for building and offshore constructions. An ultra-lightweight cement composite with density1380 kg/m3 and compressive strength up to 60 MPa is used as core material and inter-locking J-hook connectors are welded on the steel face plates to achieve the composite action. This paper presents the numerical models using nonlinear finite element analysis to investigate the load displacement behavior of SCS sandwich walls subjected to axial compression. The results obtained from finite element analysis are verified against the test results to establish its accuracy in predicting load-displacement curves, maximum resistance and failure modes of the sandwich walls. The studies show that the inter-locking J-hook connectors are subjected to tension force due to the lateral expansion of cement composite core under compression. This signifies the important role of the interlocking effect of J-hook connectors in preventing tensile separation of the steel face plates so that the local buckling of steel face plates is prevented.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.321-338
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• 2014

In the present study, a new simple first-order shear deformation theory is presented for laminated composite plates. Moreover, the number of unknowns of this theory is the least one comparing with the traditional first-order and the other higher-order shear deformation theories. Equations of motion and boundary conditions are derived from Hamilton's principle. Analytical solutions of simply supported antisymmetric cross-ply and angle-ply laminates are obtained and the results are compared with the exact three-dimensional (3D) solutions and those predicted by existing theories. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and simple in solving the static bending and free vibration behaviors of laminated composite plates.