• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.405-422
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• 2018

In this research, experimental tensile test and manufacturing of carbon nanotube reinforced composite beam (CNTRC) is presented. Also, bending, buckling, and vibration analysis of CNTRC based on various beam theories such as Euler-Bernoulli, Timoshenko and Reddy beams are considered. At first, the experimental tensile tests are carried out for CNTRC and composite beams in order to obtain mechanical properties and then using Hamilton's principle the governing equations of motion are derived for Euler Bernoulli, Timoshenko and Reddy theories. The results have a good agreement with the obtained results by similar researches and it is shown that adding just two percent of carbon nanotubes increases dimensionless fundamental frequency and critical buckling load as well as decreases transverse deflection of composite beams. Also, the influences of different manufacturing processes such as hand layup and industrial methods using vacuum pump on composite properties are investigated. In these composite beams, glass fibers used in an epoxy matrix and for producing CNTRC, CNTs are applied as reinforcement particles. Applying two percent of CNTs leads to increase the mechanical properties and increases natural frequencies and critical buckling load and decreases deflection. The obtained natural frequencies and critical buckling load by theoretical method are higher than other methods, because there are some inevitable errors in industrial and hand layup method. Also, the minimum deflection occurs for theoretical methods, in bending analysis. In this study, Young's and shear modulli as well as density are obtained by experimental test and have not been used from the results of other researches. Then the theoretical analysis such as bending, buckling and vibration are considered by using the obtained mechanical properties of this research.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.663-670
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• 2017

The problem of layup optimization of the composite laminates involves a very complex multidimensional solution space which is usually non-exhaustively explored using different heuristic computational methods such as genetic algorithms (GA). To ensure the convergence to the global optimum of the applied heuristic during the optimization process it is necessary to evaluate a lot of layup configurations. As a consequence the analysis of an individual layup configuration should be fast enough to maintain the convergence time range to an acceptable level. On the other hand the mechanical behavior analysis of composite laminates for any geometry and boundary condition is very convoluted and is performed by computational expensive numerical tools such as finite element analysis (FEA). In this respect some studies propose very fast FEA models used in layup optimization. However, the lower bound of the execution time of FEA models is determined by the global linear system solving which in some complex applications can be unacceptable. Moreover, in some situation it may be highly preferred to decrease the optimization time with the cost of a small reduction in the analysis accuracy. In this paper we explore some machine learning techniques in order to estimate the failure of a layup configuration. The estimated response can be qualitative (the configuration fails or not) or quantitative (the value of the failure factor). The procedure consists of generating a population of random observations (configurations) spread across solution space and evaluating using a FEA model. The machine learning method is then trained using this population and the trained model is then used to estimate failure in the optimization process. The results obtained are very promising as illustrated with an example where the misclassification rate of the qualitative response is smaller than 2%.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.32-43
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• 2014

Automatic fiber placement (AFP) has become a popular processing technique for composites in the aerospace industry, due to its ability to place prepregs or tapes precisely in the exact position when complex parts are being manufactured. This paper presents the design, analysis, and manufacture of an AFP mandrel for composite aircraft fuselage skin fabrication. According to the design requirements, an AFP mandrel was developed and a numerical study was performed through the finite element method. Linear static load analyses were performed considering the mandrel structure self-weight and a 2940 N load from the AFP machine head. Modal analysis was also performed to determine the mandrel's natural frequencies. These analyses confirmed that the proposed mandrel meets the design requirements. A prototype mandrel was then manufactured and used to fabricate a composite fuselage skin. Material load tests were conducted on the AFP fuselage skin curved laminates, equivalent flat AFP, and hand layup laminates. The flat AFP and hand layup laminates showed almost identical strength results in tension and compression. Compared to hand layup, the flat AFP laminate modulus was 5.2% higher in tension and 12.6% lower in compression. The AFP curved laminates had an ultimate compressive strength of 1.6% to 8.7% higher than flat laminates. The FEM simulation predicted strengths were 4% higher in tension and 11% higher in compression than the flat laminate test results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.555-568
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• 2014

In this article, stability of composite conical shells subjected to dynamic external pressure is investigated by numerical and experimental methods. In experimental tests, cross-ply glass woven fabrics were selected for manufacturing of specimens. Hand-layup method was employed for fabricating the glass-epoxy composite shells. A test-setup that includes pressure vessel and data acquisition system was designed. Also, numerical analyses are performed. In these analyses, effect of actual geometrical imperfections of experimental specimens on the numerical results is investigated. For introducing the imperfections to the numerical models, linear eigen-value buckling analyses were employed. The buckling modes are multiplied by very small numbers that are derived from measurement of actual specimens. Finally, results are compared together while a good agreement between results of imperfect numerical analyses and experimental tests is observed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.467-482
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• 2022

One of the major failure modes in composite sandwich structures is the separation between skins and core. In this study, the effect of employing foam filled composite corrugated core on the skin/core debonding (resistance to separation between skin and core) is investigated both experimentally and numerically. To this aim, triangular corrugated core specimens are manufactured and compared with reference specimens only made of PVC foam core in terms of skin/core debonding under bending loading. The corrugated composite laminates are fabricated using the hand layup method. Also, the Vacuumed Infusion Process (VIP) is employed to join the skins to the core with greater quality. Utilizing an End Notched Shear (ENS) fixture, three point bending tests are performed on the manufactured sandwich composite panels. The results reveal that the resistance to separation capacity and flexural stiffness of sandwich composite has been increased about 170% and 76%, respectively by using a triangular corrugated core. The Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) with appropriate cohesive law in ABAQUS finite element software is used to model the progressive face/core interfaces debonding the difference between experimental and numerical results in predicting the maximum born load before the skin/core separation is about 6 % in simple core specimens and 3% in triangular corrugated core specimens.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.485-492
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• 2021

The wind turbines with a rated capacity of 50kW or less are generally considered as small class. Small wind turbines are an attractive alternative for off-grid power system and electric home appliances, both as stand-alone application and in combination with other energy technologies such as energy storage system, photovoltaic, small hydro or diesel engines. The research objective is to develop the 50kW scale wind turbine blades in ways that resemble as closely as possible with the construction and methods of utility scale turbine blade manufacturing. The mold process based on wooden form is employed to create a hollow, multi-piece, lightweight design using carbon fiber and fiberglass with an epoxy based resin. A hand layup prototyping method is developed using high density foam molds that allows short cycle time between design iterations of aerodynamic platforms. A production process of five blades is manufactured and key components of the blade are tested by IEC 61400-23 to verify the appropriateness of the design. Also, wind system with developed blades is tested by IEC 61400-12 to verify the performance characteristics. The results of blade and turbine system test showed the available design conditions for commercial operation.