Durability of postbuckling fibre composite shear panels

摘要

An experimental investigation to characterise the performance of thin, stiffened, composite panels in the postbuckled state has been undertaken. Static and fatigue shear testing was performed on three-blade-stiffened panels with skin thickness of1 mm and a working section of 250× 250 mm. Panels with an artificial delamination and others which had been impact damaged were also tested. As well as laboratory testing, a series of environmental exposure tests was conducted under tropical conditions.Initial results indicate that undamaged panels are capable of withstanding cycling at two thirds of the static ultimate load. Panels containing large artificial delaminations suffered considerable delamination growth which stabilised after less than100,000 cycles. These panels were still capable of carrying significant load, demonstrating their inherent damage tolerance.