Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

A sandwich material is a composite material. A Sandwich structure usually consists of two thin, stiff, strong sheets of composite material or metallic material separated by a relatively soft core. Faces and core are then bonded together to form an efficient load carrying assembly. Lightweight sandwich constructions are used to increase the specific stiffness, which formulate the strengthening of structures for functional and economical reasons. The face carries tensile and compressive stresses, whereas the core carries transverse forces as well as shear stresses. The principle of sandwich construction is well established in the fields of shipbuilding and aerospace technology. Nowadays, sandwich panels can be found in many other technological fields such as in high-speed ferries, high-speed passenger trains, marine industry, building industry or automotive applications. Especially in the naval industry, there is a strong trend to use sandwich shells in the construction of ship hulls. Other innovative examples include civil engineering structures, such as highway bridge decks. The Finite Element Method (FEM) is a common and most effective tool for structural analysis and can be used for the analysis of sandwich construction. In the frame work of this project, modelling, simulation and experimental verification of foam core sandwich with Epoxy resin glass fibre composite facing for static loading conditions will be considered.

Chapter 2
Sandwich Structures 2.1 Introduction
A Sandwich structure comprises a combination of alternating dissimilar, homogeneous or composite materials that are intimately fixed in relation to each other so as to use the properties of each to specific advantage for the whole assembly. This construction can be viewed as a special form of a laminated composite. Face sheets that are thin, strong and hard are laminated over a core that is relatively thick, soft, lightweight, and weak. This construction results in a laminate that is lightweight and much stronger and stiffer than the simple sum of the properties of the individual elements. The primary advantage of sandwich construction is the possibility of stressing each material in the laminate to its practical limit, resulting in an efficient structural design. An analogy can be drawn between structural sandwich composite design and a structural I-beam. The I-beam gains its efficiency by having a large proportion of its total material placed in the flanges, which are situated far from the centre of bedding or the neutral axis (Figure 1). The material in the connecting web of the beam must be sufficient to allow the flanges to retain their relative positions and to resist the shear load. A structural sandwich works on the same principle. The face sheets are equivalent to the flanges of the I - beam, and the core material takes the place of the web.

Figure 1

Chapter 2

It should be emphasized from the outset that sandwich construction possesses an advantage over solid construction against bending loads and compression loads, which are critical in buckling. Direct tensile loads are carried by the face sheets only. The core material generally has negligible strength in tension compared to the face sheet material. Other advantages of sandwich construction include improved acoustic fatigue and simplicity of manufacture compared to ribbed structures.

In addition to the shear loads, the core also gives continuous support to the facing sheets and stabilizes them against wrinkling and buckling. Therefore, the core must be strong and stiff enough to resist the transverse tension and compression loads applied by the face sheets. In direct compression, the same resisting force is required to provide lateral restraint against buckling. Finally, the bond between the core and face sheets must be strong enough to transmit the tensile and shear stresses between the face sheets and the core.

By using thin, stiff facings over a lightweight core, the stiffness of a given amount of facing material can be increased at a much greater rate than the resulting increase in weight.

A major advantage of structural sandwich construction is the ability to choose from a wide variety of face sheet, core materials, and combinations. Face sheet material is evaluated for its strength and stiffness. The most common materials are laminated plastics, metals (such as aluminium and titanium), and composites. The core material must be lightweight and relatively inexpensive compared to the facing material. Honeycomb formed from various materials (such as paper, aluminium, or cellular plastics), and syntactic films are widely used. Each combination of facing and core material possesses unique advantages and disadvantages.

Generally, sandwich type construction has the following advantages over solid or rib reinforced construction: higher strength- to-weight ratios, smoother surfaces, greater structural stability, higher load carrying capacity, increased fatigue life, and better sonic fatigue endurance. The basic principle of spacing face sheets was formulated over 150 years ago, and practical structures were built during World War II.

Chapter 2

2.2 Principles of Sandwich Construction

The structure of sandwich panels always follows the same basic pattern. Two facings, which are relatively thin and of high strength, enclose a core which is relatively thick and light and which has adequate stiffness in a direction normal to the faces of the panel. A great many alternative forms of sandwich construction may be obtained by combining different facing and core materials. The facings may be steel, aluminium, wood, fibre-reinforced plastic or even concrete. The core may be made of cork, balsa wood, rubber, solid plastic material (polyethylene), rigid foam material (polyurethane, polystyrene, phenolic foam), mineral wool slabs or from honeycombs of metal or even paper. Figure 2 shows three examples of structural sandwich elements, namely:

panel with a polyurethane or polystyrene core panel with a metal or paper honeycomb core panel with a mineral wool core

Figure 2 Examples of structural sandwich elements. In each case, the faces may be colour coated steel, or aluminium, or they may be nonmetallic, such as plywood particle board or glass reinforced plastic.

Chapter 2
This possibility of combining materials to form composite panels enables optimum designs to be produced for particular applications. In composite panels, the positive properties of the individual materials can be combined and the negative properties eliminated. For example, the good thermal insulating properties of plastic foam materials or mineral wool may only be used if they are protected against moisture by rain tight and diffusion-proof facings; whereas the strength and stiffness of thin-walled metal cladding can only be fully utilised if it is stiffened against buckling under compressive force by the presence of the core material. 2.3 Methods of manufacture A variety of production methods are available for the manufacture of sandwich panels. The most economical procedure is influenced by the following factors:

the geometric design of the panel bearing in mind: o the shape of the facing material (flat, slightly or deeply profiled) o whether formed edges are required on all four edges or only on the two longitudinal edges o accommodation of additional non-metallic edge members o the dimensions of the panels

the basic materials: o whether the facing material is available in sheets or coils o Whether the core material is in the form of pre-formed slabs or foamed in situ.

the quantity to be produced and the number of product variations: o the number of panels required and when o the number of rearrangements of the production line necessary to produce product variations o The number of alternative core thicknesses.

Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that the technology of sandwich panels and their manufacture is relatively young. Research and development are continuing and new

Chapter 2

materials, which could require new production techniques, may be anticipated. Research concerned with the improvement of the performance of rigid foams in fire will continue for some time and further development of reinforced or multi-layer cores must be expected. In principle, the production process for the manufacture of sandwich panels may be considered in two parts, namely, (a) the manufacture of the facings, and (b) the manufacture of the core together with its bond with the facings.

2.3.1 Manufacture of facings

Metallic facings for sandwich panels may be manufactured by the usual methods for cold-formed sections. If forming of the longitudinal edges only is required, folding, pressbraking or roll-forming may be used. Facings formed on four sides may be made by deep drawing or folding. Deep drawing usually requires the use of high quality material with large ductility.

2.3.2 Panels with bonded cores

The core lamina is formed either from pre-formed slabs of insulation that are bonded to the faces using a suitable adhesive or by foaming rigid plastic material directly into the cavity formed by the facings and the edge details. In the former case, the core material usually consists of either polystyrene or mineral fibre. The adhesive is chosen bearing in mind the composition of the materials to be bonded and the production process.

Two different types of adhesive are in use. The first type are solvent based and are applied to both surfaces to be joined by means of sprayers and smoothers. After a short drying time the surfaces are pressed together. Suitable adhesives possess a good initial bonding capacity and the hardening time may be further shortened by applying slight pressure and temperature. These adhesives offer the advantage of easy handling. Their disadvantage lies in the fact that the position of the bonded layers cannot be corrected. Furthermore, precautions have to be taken to collect and neutralise the evaporating solvents if large quantities are used. The second group of adhesives are two-component types based on epoxy resin or polyurethane. The two components are mixed at site. After a predetermined
6

Chapter 2

time they suddenly react and harden quickly. The advantage of these adhesives lies in the possibility of correcting the position of the individual layers. The disadvantage is that they must be held in position under pressure for a certain time.

2.3.3 Foamed cores The recent massive increase in the use of sandwich panels is due almost entirely to the foamed core. Both the thermal insulation and the bond with the facings originate from the foaming process. The basic material used is polyurethane.

This type of foam is obtained by mixing two liquid components together with certain activators and motive fluids. During mixing, a chemical reaction occurs causing the mixture to foam and finally harden. During the foaming phase, the mixture is very bonding active and adheres strongly to surfaces with which it comes into contact.

The proportions of the various components and additives determine the foam's density, rigidity and other mechanical properties as well as the time required for the various phases of the reaction. There are numerous alternative recipes, some known only to the producers, which have been developed as a result of experience. There are also a number of different processing techniques, often linked to specific machinery. Nowadays, high-pressure foaming units are widely used for large-scale industrial production.

In mould forming, the panel is made in a closed mould whose dimensions are those of the finished panel. The lower facing is laid on the bottom of the mould and the upper facing placed in position supported on spacers. Simple foaming moulds usually have a solid bottom frame and a lid which is clamped to the frame. They must be of robust construction as significant pressures arise during foaming.

Prior to foaming, any required edge profiles are positioned in the mould. The exact quantity of foam is then sprayed into the cavity through a nozzle introduced through the side of the mould, an operation which takes only a few seconds. After foaming, the panel is left in

Chapter 2

the mould for up to 40 minutes, after which it may be removed and the mould prepared for the next panel. The advantage of this method is that panels with complicated shapes can be produced. The disadvantage is that the process is relatively slow, although various techniques for batch processing in which a team of operatives work cyclically on several moulds have been developed. For mass-production, continuous automatic foaming lines are used. The principles are shown in Fig. 3 Two metal strips which form the faces are run-off coils and pass through roll formers where the surface profile and edge details are formed. They are then heated to the required temperature, which is a pre-requisite for an optimal chemical reaction. The twocomponent foam mixture is then introduced before the strips enter a double conveyor, which is a type of travelling mould that resists the foaming pressure and keeps the faces at the required distance apart. The sides of the panel are likewise formed by lateral formers that are similar to small chain belts. This section of the line may be as much as 30m long. When the continuous panel emerges, the foam has hardened and it may be cut to the required lengths by a flying saw.

Figure 3- Continuous foaming line

2.4 General design criteria

Structural sandwich design may be considered to consist of determining the thickness of facing sheets and core required to resist the movement, shear and axial stresses induced by
8

Chapter 2

the loads applied to the structure. As previously stated, the axial tensile and compressive stresses caused by axial and flexural loads are carried almost entirely by the sandwich face sheets. The core resists the shear loads and provides support to the face sheets to increase their critical buckling stresses under bending or axial compression.

The basic design principles for sandwich construction can be summarized in the following conditions, which are illustrated in (Figure 1.4).

2.4.1 Tension and Compression:

The sandwich facings must be thick enough to resist the design tensile and compression loads without exceeding the allowable face sheet stress. The core must be thick enough to remain below the allowable core shear stress (Figure 4A).

2.4.2 Deflection:

The combination of face sheet and core thicknesses must be sufficient to prevent excessive deflection (Figure 4 B).

2.4.3. General Buckling and Shear Crimping:

The core must be thick enough and have sufficient shear modulus and strength such that overall buckling of the structure (Figure 4 C) or shear crimping (Figure 4 D) does not occur.

2.4.4 Face Sheet Wrinkling:

The core must have a high enough elastic modulus, and the sandwich a large enough flat wise tensile and compressive strength such that wrinkling of the face sheets does not occur (Figure 4 E).

Chapter 2

2.4.5 Face Sheet Dimpling:

If the core is of cellular (honeycomb) construction or made of corrugated material, the cell size must be small enough so that dimpling of the face sheets does not occur (Figure 4 F).

Localized loads are frequently the source of honeycomb sandwich panel failure. The structure must be able to sustain local concentrated loads, reactions, attachments, and other discontinuities. The effects of several localized normal loads are shown in (Figure 5). The honeycomb sandwich must be reinforced in these areas by thickening the face sheets or using solid inserts to prevent core failure or local facing failure. The effects of such localized loads are difficult to calculate accurately, and their evaluation by tests may be required.

Figure 4 Design properties of sandwich structures

10

Chapter 2

Figure 5 Effects of Localized Normal Loads

2.5 Structural design of sandwich structures As an introduction to the structural behaviour of sandwich panels, consider the simply supported panel with flat faces shown in Fig. 1.6(a). The panel is subject to a distributed load, shown downwards of the diagram.

The shear force and bending moment diagrams arising from this load are shown in Figs 1.6(b) and 1.6(c) respectively. For the purposes of this discussion, it is sufficient to assume that all of the shear force is resisted by a uniform shear stress in the core and that the bending moment is resisted by axial stresses in the faces as indicated in Fig. 1.6(a). Thus the behaviour is rather like that of an I-beam in which the metal faces correspond to the flanges and the core behaves as the web. The adhesive bond between the faces and the core will carry a shear stress equal to the shear stress in the core.

An essential function of the core material and its adhesive bond is to prevent the upper face slipping relative to the lower face. Figure 1.6(d) shows, in an exaggerated form, the slippage caused by using an adhesive with too low a shear strength, while Fig. 1.6(e) illustrates the consequences of using a core material with insufficient shear strength or
11

Chapter 2

stiffness. Prevention of this undesirable behaviour requires a core with a sufficiently high shear modulus as well as adequate shear strength and these two quantities feature prominently in the structural design of sandwich panels.

As the upper face of the panel is in compression, another important function of the core material and its adhesive bond is to restrain the upper face so that it does not suffer local buckling in compression, a phenomenon generally termed `wrinkling'. This behaviour is illustrated in Fig. 6(f). The stress at which wrinkling failure takes place is dependent mainly on the stiffness properties of the core and this is another reason why the mechanical properties of the core play a critical role in the structural design. The final mode of failure, which is shown in Fig. 6(g), is tensile yielding of the lower face. This is generally the least likely of the alternative modes shown in Fig. 6.

For the structural design of a sandwich panel, it is necessary to consider all of these potential failure modes. Furthermore, the situation becomes more complicated when the sandwich panel is continuous over one or more internal supports or when one or both of the faces are fully profiled.

Fig.6

Structural of a

behaviour

simply supported sandwich panel.

12

Chapter 3 Introduction to Composites

3.1. Introduction
This chapter provides the background information for the study, which involves and investigates composite materials. In order to create a base of information about composite materials and their applications, the topic will begin from scratch and expend to important aspects about composites.

3.2. Basic Concepts of Composite Materials

Composite materials are basically hybrid materials formed of multiple materials in order to utilize their individual structural advantages in a single structural material. Various scientific definitions for composite materials can be expresses as follows; - The word composite means made up of two or more parts. A composite material is one made of two other materials. The composite material then has the properties of the two materials that have been combined. - The word composite in the term composite material signifies that two or more materials are combined on a macroscopic scale to form a useful third material. The key is the macroscopic examination of a material wherein the components can be identified by the naked eye. Different materials can be combined on a microscopic scale, such as in alloying of metals, but the resulting material is, for all practical purposes, macroscopically homogeneous, i.e, the components cannot be distinguished by the naked eye and essentially act together. (Jones, R.M; 1998; 2) - Composites, which consist of two or more separate materials combined in macroscopic structural unit, are made from various combinations of the other tree materials. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 1) - A composite is a structural material which consists of combining two or more constituents. The constituents are combined at a macroscopic level and are not soluble in each other. (Kaw A.K; 1997; 2) The key is the macroscopic examination of a material wherein the components can be identified by the naked eye. Different materials can be combined on a microscopic scale, such

13

Chapter 3

as in alloying of metals, but the resulting material is, for all practical purposes, macroscopically homogeneous, i.e. the components cannot be distinguished by the naked eye and essentially acts together. The advantage of composite materials is that, if well designed, they usually exhibit the best qualities of their components or constituents and often some qualities that neither constituent possesses. Some of the properties that can be improved by forming a composite material are - Strength -Stiffness - Corrosion resistance -Wear resistance -Attractiveness -weight Naturally, not all of these properties are improved at the same time nor is there usually any requirement to do so. In fact, some of the properties are in conflict with one another, e.g., thermal insulation versus thermal conductivity. The objective is merely to create a material that has only the characteristics needed to perform the design task. Composite materials have a long history of usage. Their precise beginnings are unknown, but all recorded history contains references to some form of composite material. For example, straw was used by the Israelites to strengthen mud bricks, the use of straw in clay as a construction material by the Egyptians. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 1) Medieval swords and armour were constructed with layers of different metals. More recently, fiber-reinforced, resin-matrix composite materials that have high strength to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios have become important in weight sensitive applications such as aircraft and space vehicles. ( Jones. R.M; 1998; 2) Modern composites using fiber-reinforced matrices of various types have created a revolution in high-performance structures in recent years. Advanced composite materials -fatigue life -temperature-dependent behaviour -thermal insulation -thermal conductivity -acoustical insulation

14

Chapter 3

offer significant advantages in strength and stiffness coupled with light weight, relative to conventional metallic materials. Along with this structural performance comes the freedom to select the orientation of the fibers for optimum performance. Modern composites have been described as being revolutionary in the sense that the material can be designed as well as the structure. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 1) There are two building blocks that constitute to the structure of composite materials. One constituent is called the reinforcing phase and the one in which it is embedded is called the matrix. The reinforcing phase material may be in the form of fibers, particulates, flakes. The matrix phase materials are generally continuous. Examples of composite systems include concrete reinforced with steel, epoxy reinforced with graphite fibers, etc. (Kaw A.K; 1997; 1) 3.2.1. Fibers Fibers are the principal constituent in a fiber-reinforced composite material. They occupy the largest volume fraction in a composite laminate and share the major portion of the load acting on a composite structure. Proper selection of the type, amount and orientation of fibers is very important, because it influences the following characteristics of a composite laminate. - Specific gravity - Tensile strength and modulus - Compressive strength and modulus - Fatigue strength and fatigue failure mechanisms - Electric and thermal conductivities - Cost In a composite matrix the fibers are surrounded by a thin layer of matrix material that holds the fibers permanently in the desired orientation and distributes an applied load among all the fibers. The matrix also plays a strong role in determining the environmental stability of the composite article as well as mechanical factors such as toughness and shear strength.

15

Chapter 3

Because the reinforcing fibers can be oriented during fabrication of item, composites can be tailored to meet increased load demands in specific directions. The combined fiber-matrix system is an engineered material designed to maximize mechanical and environmental performance. There is an important, but not generally well understood difference between the development time for traditional materials compared to that for high performance fibers. Because a composite material is a complex system of two components coupled at an interface, the time required to develop and optimize new high performance fibers for a particular application is much longer than that needed for the development of traditional materials. For composite applications it normally takes 5-10 years to develop a new high performance reinforcing fiber. By dispersing fibers or particles of one material in a matrix of another material, todays designer can obtain structural properties that neither material exhibits on its own. For example, a metal alloy selected for its resistance to high temperature but having low resistance to creep at use temperature can be reinforced with fibrous inorganic oxide fibers to provide enhanced creep resistance and still be stable at high temperature. A ceramic matrix, brittle and sensitive to impact or fracture induced by thermal stress, may be reinforced with ceramic fibers to increase its resistance to crack propagation, providing greater toughness and protecting against catastrophic failure. The addition of reinforcing fibers to provide equal mechanical properties at a greatly reduced weight is often an important reason for choosing composites over traditional structural materials. Another vital consideration is the substitution of readily available materials for critical elements in short supply or those available only from foreign sources. Composite materials made from abundant, domestically available materials such as carbon, polymers, ceramics and common metals often outperform these imported strategic materials. Reinforcing fibers that provide the means of creating composite materials of high strength and stiffness, combined with low density, it is worthwhile examining in a little more detail the nature of these fibers and their origins. (Harris. B; 1999; 7)

16

Chapter 3

Figure 7 Specific modulus and specific strength for various engineering materials and fibers (Swanson S.R; 1997; 3) The various types of fibers currently in use are discussed in what follows. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 3) -Glass Fibers -Carbon Fibers -Aramid Fibers -Boron Fibers -Silicon Carbide Fibers

17

Chapter 3
3.2.1.1. Glass Fibers Glass fibers with polymeric matrices have been widely used in various commercial products such as piping, tanks, boats and sporting goods. Glass is by far the most widely used fiber, because of the combination of low cost, corrosion resistance, and in many cases efficient manufacturing potential. It has relatively low stiffness, high elongation, and moderate strength and weight, and generally lower cost relative to other composites. It has been used extensively where corrosion resistance is important, such as in piping for the chemical industry and in marine applications. It is used as a continuous fiber in textile forms such as cloth and as a chopped fiber in less critical applications. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 3) Glass fibers are strong as any of the newer inorganic fibers but they lack rigidity of on account of their molecular structure. The properties of glasses can be modified toa limited extent by changing the chemical composition of the glass, but the only glass used to any great extent in composite materials is ordinary borosilicate glass, known as E-glass. (Harris. B; 1999; 7) E glass is available as continuous filament, chopped stable and random fiber mats suitable for most methods of resin impregnation and composite fabrication. S glass, originally developed for aircraft components and missile casings, has the highest tensile strenght of all fibers in use. However, the compositional difference and higher manufacturing cost make it more expensive than E-glass. A lower cost version of S-glass, called S-2 glass, has been made available in recent years. Although S-2 glass is manufactured with less stringent nonmilitary specifications, its tensile strength and modulus are similar to those of S-glass. S-glass is primarily available as rovings and yarn and with a limited range of surface treatments. S-glass fibers are being used in hybrid reinforcement systems in combination with graphite fibers and aramid fibers. R-glass is a similar high-strength, high modulus fiber developed in France. Glass fibers are also available in woven form, such as woven roving and woving cloth. Woven roving is coarse, drapable fabric in which continuous rovings are woven in two mutually perpendicular directions.

18

Chapter 3
3.2.1.2. Carbon Fibers Carbon fibers, more than all other fibrous reinforcements, have provided the basis for the development of PMCs as advanced structural engineering materials. Carbon fibers are commercially available with a variety of tensile moduli ranging from 207Gpa on the low side to 1035Gpa on the high side. In general, low modulus fibers have lower specific gravities, lower cost, higher tensile and compressive strengths and higher tensile strain to failure than high modulus fibers. Among the advantages of carbon fibers are their exceptionally high tensile strength to weight ratios and tensile modulus to weight ratios, very low CTEs (which provide dimensional stability in such applications as space antennas) and high fatigue strengths. The disadvantages are their low impact resistance and high electric conductivity, which may cause shorting in unprotected electrical machinery. Their high cost has so far excluded them from widespread commercial application. Carbon fibers are widely used in aerospace and some applications of sporting goods, taking advantages of the relatively high stiffness to weight and high strength to weight ratios of these fibers. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 4) The structure and properties of carbon fibers are dependent on the raw material used the process conditions of manufacture. The manufacturing process involves the oxidation, textile precursors and pitch precursors. The most common textile precursor is PAN. Depending on processing conditions, a wide range of mechanical properties (controlled by structural variation) can be obtained, and fibers can therefore be chosen from this range so as to give the desired composite properties. (Harris. B; 1999; 7) Carbon fibers are commercially available in three basic forms, namely, long, continuous tow, chopped (6-50mm long) and milled (30-3000m long). The long, continuous tow, which is simply a bundle of 1000-160.000 parallel filaments, is used to for high performance applications. Typical mechanical properties of some commercially available carbon fibers are indicated the following table.

19

Chapter 3
Table 1 Mechanical properties of typical fibers (Swanson S.R; 1997; 5)

3.2.1.3. Aramid Fibers An aramid fiber is an aromatic organic compound made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 20) . Aramid polymer fibers produced primarily by E.I. duPont de Nemours & Company under the trade name Kevlar were originally developed for use in radial tires. Kevlar 29 is still used for this purpose, but a higher modulus version, Kevlar 49 is used more extensively in structural composites. The density of Kevlar is about half that of glass and its specific strength is among the highest of currently available fibers. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 9) Aramid fibers offer higher strength and stiffness relative to glass coupled with light weight, high tensile strength, but lower compressive strength both glassfiber and aramid-fiber composites show good toughness in impact environmental. Aramid tends to respond under impact in a ductile manner, as opposed to carbon fibre, which tends to fail in a more brittle manner. Aramid fiber is used as a higher performance replacement for glass fiber in industrial applications and sporting goods, and in protective clothing. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 3) 3.2.1.5. Silicon Carbide Fibers Silicon Carbide (Sic) fibers are used primarily in high-temperature metal and ceramic matrix composites because of their excellent oxidation resistance and high-temperature

20

Chapter 3
strength retention. At room temperature the strength and stiffness of Sic fibers are about the same as those of boron. Sic whisker reinforced metals are also receiving considerable attention as alternative to unreinforced metals and continuous fiber-reinforced metals. Sic whiskers are very small, typically 8-20 in (20-51nm) in diameter and about 0.0012 in( 0.03mm) long, so that standard metal-forming process such as extrusion, rolling and forging can be easily used. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 10) 3.2.2. Matrices The composite matrix is required to fulfil several functions, most of which are vital to the performance of the material. Bundles of fibers are, in themselves, of little value to an engineer, and it is only the presence of a matrix or binder that enables us to make us of them. Although matrices by themselves generally have low mechanical properties as compared to fibers, the matrix influences many mechanical properties of the composite.( Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 13), The roles of the matrix in the fiber-reinforced and particulate composites are quite different. The binder for a particulate aggregate simply reserves to retain the composite mass in a solid form, but the matrix in a fiber composite performs a variety of other functions which must be appreciated if we are to understand the true composite action which determines the mechanical behaviour of a reinforced material. We shall therefore consider these functions in some detail. The matrix binds the fibers together, holding them aligned in the important stressed directions. The matrix must also isolate the fibers from each other so that they can act as separate entities. The matrix should protect the reinforcing filaments from mechanical damage (e.g. abrasion) and from environmental attack. A ductile matrix will provide a means of slowing down or stopping cracks that might have originated at broken fibers; conversely, a brittle matrix may depend upon the fibers to act as matrix crack stoppers. Through the quality of its grip on the fibers (the interfacial bond strength), the matrix can also be an important means of increasing the toughness of the composite. By comparison with the common reinforcing filaments most matrix materials are weak and flexible and their strengths and moduli are often neglected in calculating composite properties. The potential for reinforcing any given material will depend to some extent on its ability to carry out some or all of these matrix functions, but there are often other considerations. (Harris, Bryan; 1999; 12).

21

Chapter 3

3.2.3.Conventional Materials and Their Limitations It is difficult to draw up a table of materials characteristics in order to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of metals, plastics and ceramics because of each these terms covers whole families of materials within which the range of properties is often as broad as the differences between the tree classes. A comparison in general terms, however, can identify some of the more obvious advantages and disadvantages of the different types of material. At a simplistic level, then; Plastics are of low density. They have good short-term chemical resistance but they lack thermal stability and have only moderate resistance to environmental degradation (especially that caused by the photochemical effects of sunlight). They have poor mechanical properties, but are easily fabricated and joined. Ceramics may be of low density (although some are very dense). They have great thermal stability and are resistant to kst forms of attack (abrasion, wear, corrosion).Although intrinsically very rigid and strong because of their chemical bonding, they are all brittle and can be formed and shaped only with difficulty. Metals are mostly of medium to high density- only magnesium, aluminium and beryllium can compete with plastics in this respect. Many have good thermal stabilityand may be made corrosion-resistant by alloying. They have useful mechanical properties and high toughness, and tjhey are modely easy to shape and join. It is largely a consequence of their ductility and resistance to cracking that metals, as a class, became (and remain) the preferred engineering materials. On the basis of even so superficial a comparison it can be seen that each class has certain intrinsic advantages and weaknesses, although metals pose fewer problems for the designer than either plastics or ceramics. (Harris. B; 1999; 3).

22

Chapter 3
A distinctive chart which expresses the relative importance of metals, ceramics, polymers and composites in human life throughout the history of mankind is given in

Figure 8 The relative importance of metals, polymers, composites and ceramics as a function of time. (Gibson. R.F; 1994; 2)

3.3. Classification of Composite Materials There are four commonly accepted types of composite materials. These types are listed as follows; - Fibrous composite materials that consist of fibers in a matrix - Laminated composite materials that consist of layers of various materials - Particulate composite materials that are composed of particles in a matrix - Combinations of some or all of the first three types

23

Chapter 3

3.3.1. Fibrous Composite Materials Long fibers in various forms are inherently much stiffer and stronger than the same material in bulk form. For example, ordinary plate glass fractures at stresses of only a few thousand pounds per square inch (Ib/in or psi) (20 MPa), yet glass fibers have strengths of 400,000 to 700,000 psi (2800 to 4800 MPa) in commercially available forms and about 1,000,000 psi (7000 MPa) in laboratory-prepared forms (Jones. R.M; 1998; 3).Fibrous reinforcement is so effective because many materials are much stronger than they are in bulk form. It is believed that this phenomenon was first demonstrated scientifically in 1920 by Griffith, who measured the tensile strengths of glass rods and glass fibers of different diameters. Griffith found that as the rods and fibers got thinner, they got stronger. Apparently because the smaller the diameter, the smaller the likelihood that failure-inducing surface cracks would be generated during fabrication and handling. By extrapolating these results, Griffith found that for very small diameters the fiber strength approached the theoretical cohesive strength between adjacent layers of atoms, whereas for large diameters the fiber strength dropped to near the strength of bulk glass. There can be no doubt that fibers allow us to obtain the maximum tensile strength and stiffness of a material, but there are obvious disadvantages of using a material in fiber form. Fibers alone cannot support longitudinal compressive loads and their transverse mechanical properties are generally not so good as the corresponding longitudinal properties. Thus, fibers are generally useless as structural materials unless they are held together in a structural unit with a binder or matrix material and unless some transverse reinforcement is provided. Fortunately, the geometrical configuration of fibers also turns out to be very efficient from the point of view of interaction with the binder or matrix. As shown in Figure 1-2, the ratio of surface area to volume for a cylindrical particle is greatest when the particle is in either platelet or fiber form. Thus, the fiber/matrix interfacial area available for stress transfer per unit volume of fiber increases with increasing fiber length-to diameter ratio. Transverse reinforcement is generally provided by orienting fibers at various angles according to the stress field in the component of interest. (Gibson. R.F; 1994; 4)

24

Chapter 3
3.3.1.1. Whiskers A whisker has essentially the same near-crystal-sized diameter as a fiber, but generally is very short and stubby, although the length-to diameter ratio can be in the hundreds. Thus, a whisker is an even more obvious example of the crystal-bulk materialproperty-difference paradox. That is, a whisker is even more perfect than a fiber and therefore exhibits even higher properties. Indeed, whiskers are currently the strongest reinforcing materials available. (Gibson. R.F; 1994; 3) Naturally, fibers and whiskers are of little use unless they are bonded together to take the form of a structural element that can carry loads. (Jones, R.M; 1998; 4) 3.3.2. Laminated Composite Materials Laminated composite materials consist of layers of at least two different materials that are bonded together. Lamination is used to combine the best aspects of the constituent layers and bonding material in order to achieve a more useful material. The properties that can be emphasized by lamination are strength, stiffness, low weight, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, beauty or attractiveness, thermal insulation, acoustical insulation, etc. Bimetals, clad metals, laminated glass, plastic-based laminates, and laminated fibrous composite materials are available but only laminated 3.3.2.1. Fibrous composite materials will be explained The fibers are long and continuous as opposed to whiskers. The basic terminology of fiber-reinforced composite laminates will be introduced in the following paragraphs. For a lamina, the configurations and functions of the constituent materials, fibers and matrix, were introduced in the former parts. Finally, a laminate is defined to round out this introduction to the characteristics of fiber-reinforced composite laminates. 3.3.2.1.1 Laminae The basic building block of composite structure is the lamina, which usually consists of one of the fiber/matrix configurations shown in Figure 9. (Gibson. R.F; 1994; 4). The main constituent of a laminate is a lamina which is a flat sometimes curved as in a shell) arrangement of unidirectional fibers or woven fibers in a matrix. Two typical flat laminae along with their principal material axes that are parallel and perpendicular to the fiber
25

Chapter 3
Direction are shown in Fig 10. The fibers are the principal reinforcing or load-carrying agent and are typically strong and stiff. The matrix can be organic, metallic, ceramic, or carbon. Fibers generally exhibit linear elastic behaviour, although reinforcing steel bars in concrete are more nearly elastic-perfectly plastic. Aluminium, as well as many polymers, and some composite materials exhibit elastic-plastic behaviour that is really nonlinear elastic behavior if there is no unloading. Commonly, resinous matrix materials are viscoelastic if not viscoplastic i.e, have strain-rate dependence and linear or nonlinear stress-strain behaviour. The various stress-strain relations are sometimes referred to as constitutive relations because they describe the mechanical constitution of the material. Fiber-reinforced composite materials such as boron-epoxy and graphite-epoxy are usually treated as linear elastic materials because the essentially linear elastic fibers provide the majority of the strength and stiffness. Refinement of that approximation requires consideration of some form of plasticity, viscoelasticity, or both (viscoplasticity). Very little work has been done to implement those models or idealizations of composite material behaviour in structural applications. 3.3.2.1.2. Laminates

Figure 9 - Un bonded view of laminate construction (Jones, R.M; 1998; 17)

26

Chapter 3
A laminate is a bonded stack of laminae with various orientations of principal material directions in the laminae as in Figure 9. Note that the fiber orientation of the layers in Figure 2-3 is not symmetric about the middle surface of the laminate. The layers of a laminate are usually bonded together by the same matrix material that is used in the individual laminae. That is, some of the matrix material in a lamina coats the surfaces of a lamina and is used to bond the lamina to its adjacent laminae without the addition of more matrix material. Laminates can be composed of plates of different materials or, in the the present context, layers of fiber-reinforced laminae. A laminated circular cylindrical shell can be constructed by winding resin-coated fibers on a removable core structure called a mandrel first with one orientation to the shell axis, then another, and soon until the desired thickness is achieved. A major purpose of lamination is to tailor the directional dependence of strength and stiffness of a composite material to match the loading environment of the structural element. Laminates are uniquely suited to this objective because the principal material directions of each layer can be oriented according to need. For example, six layers of a ten-layer laminate could be oriented in one direction and the other four at 90 to that direction; the resulting laminate then has a strength and extensional stiffness roughly 50% higher in one direction than the other. The ratio of the extensional stiffnesses in the two directions is approximately 6:4, but the ratio of bending stiffnesses is unclear because the order of lamination is not specified in the example. Moreover, if the laminae are not arranged symmetrically about the middle surface of the laminate, the result is stiffnesses that represent coupling between bending and extension. (Jones, Robert M; 1998; 15)

Fig 10. Types of composites

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Chapter 3
Various composite types that are listed according to fiber displacements is explained as following. The need for fiber placement in different directions according to the particular application has led to various types of composites, as shown in Figure In the continuous fiber composite laminate Figure 10 (a) individual continuous fiber/matrix laminae are oriented in the required directions and bonded together to form a laminate. Although the continuous fiber laminate is used extensively, the potential for delaminating, or separation of the laminae, is still a major problem because the inter laminar strength is matrix-dominated. Woven fiber composites Figure 10 (b) do not have distinct laminae and are not susceptible to delamination, but strength and stiffness are sacrificed due to the fact that the fibers are not so straight as in the continuous fiber laminate. Chopped fiber composites may have short fibers randomly dispersed in the matrix, as shown in Figure 10 (c) Chopped fiber composites are used extensively in high volume applications due to low manufacturing cost, but their mechanical properties are considerably poorer than those of .continuous fiber composites. Finally, hybrid composites may consist of mixed chopped and continuous fibers, as shown in Figure 10 (d) or mixed fiber types such as glass/graphite.

Figure -11 Composite sandwich structure (Gibson. R.F; 1994; 6) 28

Chapter 3

Another common composite configuration, the sandwich structure consists of high strength composite facing sheets (which could be any of the composites shown in Figure 11) bonded to a lightweight foam or honeycomb core. Sandwich structures have extremely high flexural stiffness-to-weight ratios and are widely used in aerospace structures. The design flexibility offered by these and other composite configurations is obviously quite attractive .to designers, and the potential now exists to design not only the structure, but also the structural material itself. (Gibson. R.F; 1994; 4) 3.3.3. Particulate Composite Materials Particulate composite materials consist of particles of one or more materials suspended in a matrix of another material. They are usually isotropic since the particles are added randomly. Particulate composites have advantages such as improved strength, increased operating temperature and oxidation resistance, etc. (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 12). The particles can be either metallic or non-metallic as can the matrix. 3.3.4. Combinations of Composite Materials Numerous multiphase composite materials exhibit more than one characteristic of the various classes, fibrous, laminated, or particulate composite materials, just discussed. For example, reinforced concrete is both particulate (because the concrete is composed of gravel in a cement-paste binder) and fibrous (because of the steel reinforcement).Also laminated fiber-reinforced composite materials are obviously both laminated and fibrous composite materials. Laminated fiber-reinforced composite materials are a hybrid class of composite materials involving both fibrous composite materials and lamination techniques. Here, layers of fiber reinforced material are bonded together with the fiber directions of each layer typically oriented in different direction to give different strengths and stiffnesses of the laminate in various directions. Thus, the strengths and stiffnesses of the laminated fiberreinforced composite material can be tailored to the specific design requirements of the structural element being built. Examples, of laminated fiber reinforced composite materials include rocket motor cases, boat hulls, aircraft wing panels and body sections, tennis rackets, golf club shafts, etc. (Jones, Robert M; 1998; 8)
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Chapter 3
3.4. Major Composite Classes The major composite classes of structural composite materials are available and these classes will be categorized as following; Polymer-Matrix Composites Metal- Matrix Composites Ceramic- Matrix Composites Carbon- Carbon Composites Hybrid Composites

3.4.1. Polymer-Matrix Composite Polymer-Matrix Composites are the most developed class of composite materials in that they have found widespread application, can be fabricated into large, complex shapes, and have been accepted in a variety of aerospace and commercial applications. They are constructed of components such as carbon, boron, graphite, aramid fibres bound together by an organic polymer matrix such as epoxy, polyester, urethane. (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 16) These reinforced plastics are a synergistic combination of high-performance fibers and matrices. The fiber provides the high strength and modulus, whereas the matrix spreads the load as well as offering resistance to weathering and corrosion. For example, graphite/epoxy composites are approximately five times stronger than steel on a weight- for weight basis. The reasons of being the most common composites include their low cost, high strength and simple manufacturing principles. The main drawbacks of Polymer-Matrix Composites include low operating temperatures, high coefficients of thermal and moisture expansion, and low elastic properties in certain directions.(Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 16) Continuous-fiber thermoset composites are produced by quite different methods. Cylindrically symmetric structures such as pressure vessels, tanks, rocket-motor casings, centrifuge cylinders, and a variety of pipes, can be made by winding fibers or tapes soaked with pre-catalysed resin onto expendable or removable mandrels.(Harris. B; 1999; 24) Composite strenght is almost directly proportinal to the basic fiber strenght and can be improved at the expense of stiffness. High modulus organic fibers have been made with simple polimers by arranging the molecules during processing, which results in straightened

30

Chapter 3
Molecular structure. Optimization of stiffness and fiber strength remain in a fundamental objective of fiber manufacture. In addition, because of differences in flexibility between fiber intra and inter fibrillar amorphous zones, shear stress can result and eventually lead to a fatigue crack. 3.4.2. Metal- Matrix Composites These composites consist of metal alloys reinforced with continues fibers, whiskers (a version of short fibers that are in the form of single crystals), or particulates (fine particles, as distinct from fibers). Because of their use of metals as matrix materials, they have a higher temperature resistance than PMCs but in general are heavier. They are not use as widely used as PMCs but are finding increasing application in many areas. Further development of manufacturing and processing techniques is essential to bringing down product costs and accelerating the uses of MMCs. Research continues on particulate and fiber reinforced MMCs because of substantial improvements in their strength and stiffness as compared to those of unreinforced metal alloys. The basic attributes of metals reinforced with hard ceramic particles or fibers are improved strength and stiffness, improved creep and fatigue resistance, and increased hardness, wear and abrasion resistance, combined with the possibility of higher operating temperatures than for the unreinforced metal (or competing reinforced plastics). (Harris. B; 1999; 27) Efforts are directed at light alloy composites capable of use in low to medium temperature applications for space structures and for high temperature applications such as engines and airframe components. The extreme low density of graphite used as reinforcement, coupled with its very high modulus, makes it a highly desirable material. However, one obstacle is the poor interfacial bond between graphite and metals such as aluminium and magnesium. The interfacial bond can be strengthened by using a metal carbide coating. MMCs exhibit high performance as a result of their good strength to weight ratios. The development of directionally solidified alloys has increased the high temperature capability further by aligning grain boundaries away from the principal stress direction.

31

Chapter 3
The extreme low density of graphite, coupled with its very high modulus, makes it a highly desirable reinforcement. Components of this type are still under development, but few are in commercial production apart from one or two limited applications in Japanese automobiles. (Harris. B; 1999; 27) 3.4.3. Ceramic-Matrix Composites Monolithic ceramic materials have a natural high temperature resistance but also have fundamental limitations in structural applications owing to their propensity for brittle fracture. The incorporation of reinforcement, for example, ceramic fiber reinforcement, into the ceramic matrix can improve the formidability of the material by allowing cracking to be retarded by the fiber matrix interfaces. CMCs are a class of structural materials with reinforcement such as Sic fibers embedded in a ceramic matrix such as Al2O3, Si3N4 or Sic the reinforcements can be continues fibers, chopped fibers, small discontinuous whisker platelets, or particulates. This combination of a fiber and ceramic matrix makes ceramicmatrix composites more attractive for applications where both high mechanical properties and extreme service temperatures are desired. (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 40) One of the most common methods to manufacture CMC s is called the hot pressing method, which is will be explained in the next parts as detailed. Glass fibers in continuous tow are passed through slurry consisting of powdered matrix material, solvent such as alcohol, and organic binder. The tow is then wound one drum and dried to form prepreg tapes. The prepreg tapes can now be stacked up to make a required laminate. Heating at about 500C burns out the binder. Hot pressing method at high temperatures in excess of 1000 C and pressure of 7 to 14 Mpa follows this. (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 41) 3.4.4. Carbon- Carbon Composites CCCs consist of carbon fiber reinforcements embedded in a carbonaceous matrix. Preliminary processing is very much like that for PMCs, but the organic matrix subsequently heated up to the point where it is converted to carbon. Carbon-carbon is a 31 superior structural material for applications where resistance to very high temperatures and thermal shock is required. Carbon by itself brittle and flaw sensitive like ceramics. Reinforcement of a carbon matrix allows the composite to fail gradually, and also gives advantages such as ability to withstand high temperatures, low creep at high temperatures, low density, good tensile and compressive strengths, high fatigue resistance, high thermal conductivity and high
32

Chapter 3
Coefficient of friction. Drawbacks include high cost, low shear strength and susceptibility to oxidations at high temperatures. (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 43) No other material has higher specific strength properties (strength to density ratio) at temperatures in excess of 1371C. Oxidation protection systems, low cost manufacturing, and scale up of C/C structures are needed to effect more widespread use and subsequent flow down to industrial applications. In the 30 years or so that this class of materials has been under development. CCC material systems can be generally into two usage categories. Non-structural composites and structural composites. The maturity of these categories is different. The nonstructural class of the materials is in production for commercial and military usage and is relatively mature. The structural class of materials, which have very high pay off applications, is not in production and will require considerable development. The main reasons for the considerable difference in development of two classes of C/C composites are the significantly higher requirements involving temperature, service life, and load carrying capability of structural applications. 3.4.5. Hybrid Composites Reference to hybrid composites most frequently relates to the kinds of fiber reinforced materials, usually resin-based, in which two types of fibers are incorporated into a style matrix. HCM is defined as a composite material system derived from the integrating of dissimilar materials at least one of which is a basic composite material. A typical example of a hybrid composite material is a reinforced polymer composite combined with a conventional unreinforced homogenous metal. The hybrid composite material blends the desirable properties of two or more types of materials into a single material system which displays the beneficial characteristics of the separate constituents. As such, the definition is much more restrictive than the reality. Any combination of dissimilar materials could in fact be though of as a hybrid. (Harris. B; 1999; 30) 3.5. Manufacturing Process Unlike most conventional materials, there is a very close relation between the manufacture of a composite material and its end use. the manufacture of the material is often actually part of the fabrication process for the structural element or even the complete structure. (Jones, R.M; 1998; 18) The selection of a fabrication process obviously depends on

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Chapter 3
the constituent materials in the composite, with the matrix material being the key (i.e., The process for polymer matrix, metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites are generally quite different). (Gibson R.F;1994 ;21) Table 2 Fabrication process for polymer matrix composites (Gibson R.F;1994 ;21)

3.5.1. Initial Form of Constituent Materials The fibers and matrix material can be obtained commercially in a variety of forms, both individually and as laminae. Fibers are available individually or as roving which is a continuous, bundled, but not twisted, group fiber. The fibers can be unidirectional or interwoven. Fibers are often saturated or coated with resinous material such as epoxy which is subsequently used as a matrix material. The process is referred to as pre impregnation, and such forms of pre impregnated fibers are called prepregs. For example, unidirectional fibers in an epoxy matrix are available in a tape form (prepreg tape) where the fibers run in the length wise direction of the tape. The fibers are held in position not only by the matrix but by a removable backing that also prevents the tape from sticking together in the roll. The tape is very similar to the widely used glass reinforced, heavy-duty package-strapping tape. Similarly, prepreg cloth or mats are available in which the fibers are interwoven and then pre impregnated with the resin. Other variations on these principal forms of fibers and matrix exist. (Jones, R.M; 1998; 18)

34

Chapter 3
Some of the more popular techniques are described in what follows. Sheet Moulding Compound Filament Winding Prepreg and Prepreg Layup Autoclave Moulding Thermoplastic Moulding Process Pultrusion Tube Rolling

3.5.1.1. Sheet Moulding Compound Sheet-moulding compound (SMC) is an important innovation in composite manufacturing which is used extensively in the automobile industry and this manufacturing system has been used for producing glass fiber with polyester resin. SMC is similar to prepreg tape in that the fibers and the resin are pre packaged in a form that is more easily used by fabricators. SMC consists of a relatively thick, chopped fiber-reinforced resin sheet, whereas prepreg usually has continuous fibers in a thin type. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 24) As illustrated in Figure 12, the glass fiber is typically used in chopped-fiber form and added to a resin mixture that is carried on plastic carrier film. After partial cure, the carrier films are removed; the sheet moulding material is cut into lengths and placed into matched metal dies under heat and pressure. Catalysts and other additives such as thermoplastics are mixed with the resin. . (Swanson S.R; 1997; 8)

Figure -12 Process for producing sheet moulding compound (SMC) (Swanson S.R; 1997; 10)
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Chapter 3
3.5.1.2 Filament Winding Filament winding is widely used to produce such structures as rocket motor cases, pressure vessels, power transmission shafts, piping, and tubing. Imaginative variations on the filament winding process have produced a variety of structures such as leaf springs for automotive vehicles. A composite leaf spring may be fabricated by winding on an ellipsoidal mandrel, then cutting the cured shell into the required pieces. Experimental programs are underway to produce large, complex structures such as aircraft fuselages and automobile body structures by filament winding. Filament winding machines for such structures will require liberal use of computer control and robotics (Gibson R.F; 1994; 25).

Figure-13 Filament Winding Process (Swanson S.R; 1997; 10)

36

Chapter 3
In part fabrication by this method it is important to satisfy two basic requirements: Orientation of reinforcing filament in the direction of the basic loads on components. Filament balance on the mandrel surface (i.e. absence of sliding of filaments), maintaining the form tension of the wind through interaction with the surface. These requirements can conflict with each other, since the continuous load direction can differ from the filament orientation, and continuous filaments cannot change direction abruptly, which would lead to unbalance (Braukhin A.G & Bogolyubov V.S.; 1995; 77). 3.5.1.3 Autoclave Moulding Autoclave moulding is the standard aerospace industry and this method of manufacturing is used with composites available as prepregs. (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 28). The autoclave is simply a heated pressure vessel into which the mould (with lay-up) is placed and subjected to the required temperature and pressure for curing. The mould and lay-up are often covered with a release fabric, a bleeder cloth, and a vacuum bag. A vacuum line is then attached to the mould for evacuation of volatile gases during the cure process. Without the vacuum bagging these gases would be trapped and could cause void contents of greater than 5 percent in the cured laminate. With the vacuum bag void contents on the order of 0.1 percent are attainable. Autoclaves come in a wide range of sizes from bench-top laboratory versions to the room-size units which are used to cure large aircraft structures. The autoclavestyle press cure is often used to cure small samples for research. In this case a vacuumbagged mould assembly is inserted between the heated platens of a hydraulic press, and the press then generates the temperature and pressure required for curing. A vacuum press is a variation on this concept involving the use of a vacuum chamber surrounding the platen-mold assembly, and a sealed door on this chamber eliminates the need for a vacuum bag. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 22)

Fig-14 Autoclave moulding

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Chapter 3
3.5.1.4. Thermoplastic Moulding Process In the thermoplastic moulding process (Figure 15) the blank (an uncured laminate consisting of thermoplastic prepreg tape layers) is passed through an infrared oven where it is heated to near the melting point of the thermoplastic resin. The heated blank is then quickly placed in a matched metal die mould for final forming. Resin transfer moulding (RTM) and structural reaction injection moulding (SRIM) are attracting considerable attention because of their relatively fast production cycles and the near net- shape of resulting parts.RTM is being considered for a number of automotive structural parts. (Swanson S.R; 16) In both the RTM process and the SRIM process a "preform" consisting of fibers and possibly a foam core is first produced in the general shape of the finished part. The preform is then placed in a closed metal mould and the liquid resin is injected under pressure. The major difference between the two processes is that with RTM the resin and hardeners are premixed before injection into the mould, whereas with SRIM the resin and hardener are mixed by impingement as they are injected into the mould. Three dimensionally shaped parts with foam cores can be produced with both RTM and SRIM, but SRIM tends to be faster than RTM. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 27)

Figure - 15 Thermoplastic moulding process (Gibson R.F; 1994; 29) 3.5.1.5. Pultrusion Pultrusion is a process in which the fiber and matrix are pulled through a die. Pultrusion is similar in overall function to extrusion in metals and polymer materials, except that the fibers are pulled rather than pushed. The Pultrusion apparatus provides the functions of assembling the fibers, impregnating the resin, shaping the product, and curing the resin. Glass-fiber and polyester or vinyl ester resin is widely used in the Pultrusion process, as well as other material systems such as Aramid (Kevlar and Twaron) or carbon fibers with epoxy
38

Chapter 3
resin. Pultruded products include solid and hollow shapes in standard sizes, as well as custom shapes for a variety of specific applications. Pultrusion is the process of pulling a continuous fiber/resin mixture through a heated die to form structural elements such as I-beams and channel sections. (Gibson R.F; 1994;26) Fishing rods and electrical insulator rods manufactured by Pultrusion are popular examples. (Swanson S.R;1997; 17) This process is relatively fast but is restricted to structures whose shapes do not change along the length. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 26) The Pultrusion process is illustrated in Figure 16. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 18)

Figure 16 The Pultrusion process (Swanson S.R; 1997; 18) 3.1.5.6. Tube Rolling Tubular products such as fishing rods and golf club shafts are often made by a wrapping or rolling process, as an alternative to other processes such as filament winding. Prepreg tape is typically used, and the tube may be either wrapped with a bidirectional cloth (with fibers in the axial and transverse directions) or spiral-wrapped. Tapered tubes can be roll-wrapped, although the orientation of the fibers is then not totally symmetric. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 17)

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Chapter 3
3.6. Current Applications A number of current applications of composites are illustrated in the following. These applications show quite a variety. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 18) Composite structural elements are now used in a variety of components for automotive, aerospace, marine and architectural structures in addition to consumer products such as skies, golf clubs and tennis rackets. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 13) Currently, almost every aerospace company is developing products made with fiber-reinforced composite materials. The usage of composite materials has progressed through several stages since the 1960s. (Jones, R.M; 1998; 37) The applications can be considered by area as follows. 3.6.1. Aerospace The aerospace industry has been a major factor in the development and application of carbon, Aramid, and boron fibers. Carbon and Aramid fibers have been used in solid rocket motor cases because of their high strength-to-weight properties. These cases are manufactured by filament winding. One of the earliest applications for carbon fiber was in space structures because of its very special thermal-expansion properties. Carbon fiber actually has a small but negative coefficient of thermal expansion in the fiber direction. It is possible to align the fibers so as to achieve a very low distortion associated with changes in temperature. Present-day space structures, such as illustrated in Figure 2-10, may use highmodulus carbon fiber and special resins to achieve excellent dimensional stability. Carbon fibers, and in some instances Aramid fiber are being used extensively in helicopters because of high ratios as well as strength-to-weight ratios. For example, the USA Comanche helicopter under development uses carbon-fiber prepreg systems with toughened epoxies or BMI resins for 73% of the airframe, and carbon fiber/epoxy for the blade spars and glass fiber/epoxy for the blade skins. The V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft under production, illustrated in Figure 2.11, uses intermediate-modulus, carbon fiber IM6/3501-6 for 41% of the primary structure and glass fiber/epoxy for an additional 8%. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 19) Military aircraft designers were among the first to realize the tremendous potential of composites with high specific strength and high specific stiffness since performance and

40

Chapter 3
maneuverability of those vehicles depend so heavily on weight. The military aircraft industry has mainly led the use of polymer composites. (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 29) Composite construction also leads to smooth surfaces (no rivets or sharp transitions as in metallic construction) which reduce drag. Applications of advanced composites in military aircraft have accelerated in early 1960s. Composite structural elements such as horizontal and vertical stabilizers, flaps, wing skins and various control surfaces have been used in fighter aircraft such as F-14, F-15, and F-16 with typical weight savings of about 20 percent. The AV-8B has graphite/epoxy wing-box skins, forward fuselage, horizontal stabilizer, elevators, rudder and other control surfaces, and over wing fairing totalling about 26 percent of the aircrafts structural weight. One of the most demanding applications thus war is the use of graphite/epoxy composite wing structures on the experimental forward-swept wing X-29 fighter. Although the concept of a forward-swept wing for improved maneuverability is not new, conventional aluminium structures could not withstand the aerodynamic forces acting on such a wing, so the implementation of the concept had to wait for the development of advanced composite materials. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 13)

Figure-17 Composite structures on the AV-8B fighter aircraft. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 14)

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Chapter 3
The applications to commercial aircraft have been much slower to come to market because of the problems associated with both material and manufacturing cost. The Airbus series of airplanes introduced a vertical stabilizer made from carbon fiber/epoxy in 1985, and incorporated this in subsequent models. The airbus A340 introduced in 1993 also has a carbon-fiber/epoxy horizontal rear stabilizer, and uses carbon-fiber composites for most of the control surfaces, fairings, nacelles, and access doors. The recently introduced Boeing 777 is also using carbon fiber for the horizontal and vertical rear stabilizers. The Boeing 777 horizontal stabilizer and tail have a span of 21m and almost 10 m, respectively, and are made of carbon fiber and toughened epoxy. The Boeing 777, a 400 passenger aircraft will have about 10% composites by weight. Although carbon-fiber composites have been used in the primary structure of military aircraft for some time, this recent use of carbon fiber in commercial aircraft represents a significant advance. Reducing the problems of design, reliability, manufacturing, and cost to commercial practice represents a milestone in the use of composite materials. On a smaller scale, the introduction of the Beech Star ship corporate jet with an all carbon-fiber composite airframe represents another milestone in the use of fiber composites in commercial aviation. . (Swanson S.R; 1997; 19) In the near future, aircraft will be built with a very high percentage of components made from composite materials. Only then will the full advantages of weight savings be realized because nearly all parts of plane interact with or support other parts. Hence, the effect of Wright reduction in one part of a plane pyramids over the entire plane. (Jones, R.M; 1998; 38) 3.6.1.1 Aircraft Brakes Although carbon-carbon brakes cost 440$/Ib (970$/kg), which is several times more then their metallic counterpart, the high durability (two to four times that of steel), high specific heat (2.5 times that of steel), low braking distances and braking times (3/4 of beryllium), and large weight savings of up to 990Ib (450kg) on a commercial aircraft are attractive. As mentioned earlier, 1Ib (0.453kg) weight savings on a full service commercial aircraft can translate to fuel savings of about (1360 1/year.) (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 44)

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Chapter 3
3.6.2 Automotive Despite early predictions of widespread use of composites in the automotive industry by this time, actual use of composites has been quite low. Some examples are components such as leaf springs, drive shafts, and chopped glass fiber as sheet moulding compound used for body. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 24) Structural weight is also very important in automotive vehicles, and the use of composite automotive components continues to grow. Glass fiberreinforced polymers continue to dominate the automotive composites scene, and advanced composites have still not made significant inroads. Weight savings on specific components such as leaf springs can exceed 70 percent compared with steel (composite leaf springs have also proved to be more fatigue resistant than steel springs). And also, composite leaf springs give a smoother ride than steel leaf springs and give more rapid response to stresses caused by road shock. Moreover; composite leaf springs offer less chance of catastrophic failure and excellent corrosion resistance. By weight, about 8% of todays automobile parts, including bumpers, body panels and doors are made of composites. (Kaw, Autar K; 1997; 35) Experimental composite engine blocks have been fabricated from graphite-reinforced thermoplastics, but the ultimate goal is a ceramic composite engine which would not require water-cooling. Chopped glass fiber-reinforced polymers have been used extensively in body panels, where stiffness and appearance are the principal design criteria. Composite primary structures such as the Ford Taurus "Tub are only experimental at this point, but they offer weight reduction, fewer parts, and smaller assembly and manufacturing costs. (Gibson R.F; 1994; 18) Cost appears to be the principal barrier. There are indications that legislated requirements for fuel economy may lead to further consideration of composites. Protypes of frame cross-members have been built, and manufacturing techniques are currently being studied with the goal of decreasing manufacturing costs. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 25)

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Chapter 3
The corresponding level of demand forces production rates that cannot be met with current manufacturing techniques. For example, tape-layering machines have production rates sufficient to manufacture all the needed aircraft per a year. However, those same tapelayering machines are woefully inadequate to manufacture parts at the aretes necessary to sustain automobile production that has a current rate per day which far exceeds the number of aircraft made in a decade. Furthermore, autoclave curing each such part would be a further bottleneck in the manufacturing problem because each part would take several hours to cure. Thus, new manufacturing techniques are essential before widespread use of composite parts in the automotive industry occurs. (Jones, R.M; 1998; 51) The use of resin transfer moulding (RTM) with high-cure-rate polyurethane resin, with stitched cloth or braided glass-fiber performs, looks promising at present. Glass fiber has been emphasized in the production and prototype applications to date in the automotive industry. However, it is still an open question as to whether the weight savings with glass fiber will be adequate to justify the change from steel, or whether eventually carbon-fiber composites will be used because of the increased stiffness to weight ratios for that material. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 25) 3.6.3 Other Commercial Applications Some composite materials found their way into commercial applications very quickly if costs could be controlled or were not an issue. Many other fiber glass products became popular; boats, cars to a limited extent, tennis rackets, and skies surf boards. (Jones, R.M; 1998; 52) Composites have become popular in a number of applications in sporting goods. One of the early popular applications of carbon-fiber composites was for the shafts of golf clubs. The light weight and stiffness enabled a higher percentage of the weight to be concentrated in the head, giving better performance. Golf shafts are fabricated by roll wrapping with car-bon/epoxy prepreg or by filament winding. Standard-modulus carbon fiber is used, and that more expensive shafts may use high modulus carbon fiber. Glass fiber is universally used for pole vaults, taking advantage of the high strain trailer of that material to store energy. A similar application of glass fiber is in archery bows, and carbon fiber is used for the very high performance arrow shafts.

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Chapter 3
In another application involving sporting goods, polyethylene and Aramid fibers are used in protective helmets. Carbon fiber is widely used in various types of tennis rackets. Here the stiffness-to-weight ratio and vibration absorption are key characteristics, properties that are utilized in fishing rods as well. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 22) For example, fiber glass fishing rods were produced in the 1940s and became virtually the standard by the 1960s. (Jones, R.M; 1998; 52) Sailboard and sailboat masts employ glass fiber in the lower-cost models and carbon fiber in higher-performance models. Although significantly lighter than glass fiber, the carbon-fiber masts typically require more care in use to prevent accidental damage. Carbon fiber is now universally used in Formula I race-car frames, for reasons of crash protection that take advantage of the high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios of carbon fiber. Glass fiber dominates the recreational boat industry because of corrosion resistance and cost. Higher-performance kayaks and canoes are available in Aramid fiber. Very highperformance (and expensive) racing power and sailboat hulls are now being made with carbon fiber, including the boats for the America's Cup. Bicycle frames are becoming available from many manufacturers in carbon fiber. The more conventional method of using carbon fibers in bicycle frames has been to retain the conventional tube and lug construction, with carbon-fiber/epoxy tubes in conjunction with secondary bonding to metal lugs, and in some cases to composite lugs. The tubes may be rollwrapped, hand layup with prepreg materials, or braided. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 22) 3.6.4 Concluding Remarks about Applications of Composites The composites industry, and particularly the advanced composites industry, is currently in a state of flux. Growth rates for carbon-fiber use have been on the order of 15 to 20% per year for the past decade, with consumption in 1991 being around 20 million pounds. The reductions in defense spending that followed the end of the Cold War have led to reductions in material requirements for carbon fiber in the military aerospace industry. As a consequence, the supply of carbon fiber exceeded demand. One consequence is that manufacturers have offered commercial grades of carbon fiber at significantly reduced prices, in the range of $9 to $15 per pound ($20 to $33 per kg) for carbon fiber with properties

45

Chapter 3
similar to that of AS4, which has been widely used in aerospace applications. Carbon fiber with larger tow sizes is currently available at prices of from $9 to $ 12 per pound $20 to $26 per kg) with projections that these prices will be cut in half in the next few years. These lowered prices are making other markets feasible that do not require the certification procedures and therefore higher prices of the aerospace grades. It is possible that a greatly expanded role for fiber composites in infrastructure may open up, as well as an increased role in the automotive industry. However, in addition to the performance and cost issues, the natural resistance to change because of the uncertainties involved will have to be overcome in order for fiber composite materials to achieve widespread use in these industries. There are signs that the industry will continue to grow, although the rate at which growth occurs depends on complex interactions between cost and performance gains. The technical need for design and analysis of composite structures remains in place, as increased use of composites will require taking full advantage of the material properties and manufacturing techniques available. (Swanson S.R; 1997; 26)

46

Chapter 4
MICROMECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF A LAMINA 4.1 Experimental Determination of Mechanical Properties The experimental determination of the mechanical properties of unidirectional under static loading conditions has always been a key issue in the research on composite materials. With the rise of huge variety of composites, the need for an efficient and reliable way of measuring these properties has become more important. The central issue here is that principal stresses and strains are the largest values irrespective of direction or orientation; however, direction of stress or strain has, by definition, absolutely no significance for isotropic materials. Because of orthotropic, the axes of principal stress do not coincide with the axes of principal strain. The fundamental way in which fiber composites, and in particular continuous-fiber composites, differ from conventional engineering materials. This directionally affects the way in which the materials are used and the way in which the directions of the individual plies are selected (Swanson S.R; 1997; 29). Moreover, because the strength is lower in one direction than another, the highest stress might not be the stress governing the design. A rational comparison of the actual stress field with the allowable stress field is therefore required, irrespective of any principal values. The experiments, if conducted properly generally reveal both strengths and stiffness characteristics of the material (Jones, R.M; 1998; 88) In this section, the stress and strain relationships for an individual ply or lamina are examined. These relationships form the basic building block on which all subsequent analysis and design procedures are based. It is assumed here that the material under consideration is orthotropic, that is, it has directional stiffness properties, but that certain symmetries hold. In particular, an orthotropic material has planes of symmetry and principal material axes such that loading along these principal axes in tension or compression does not induce shear stresses and strains, and the applications of shear stresses does not produce normal strains. The individual layers of a composite, whether it is a layer in a laminate or a layer in a filament-wound structure, closely follow this assumption, with the principal material axes aligned with a transverse to the fibers. When a composite is considered to be an orthotropic material, the individual constituents of fiber and matrix are no longer explicitly considered, but only average or smeared properties in the different directions are employed. Because many composite structures are thin in the through the thickness direction, the theory developed here is essentially a two dimensional stress theory.
47

Chapter 4
The major focus of this section is to develop the relationships between stress and strain for a thin lamina (layer) of aligned fibers in a matrix. These relationships are applicable to all continuous-fiber composites and to aligned short-fiber composites. Those short-fiber composites that have more random fiber orientations and other materials such as continuous fibers in what is called a random mat may be considerably less directional in stiffness; in many cases, they can be analyzed as if they were conventional isotropic materials. The section begins by introducing the idea of orthotropic properties. 4.2. Orthotropic Properties A unidirectional layer is shown in Figure 18, along with a coordinate system used to establish notation. Here directions 1 and 2 refer to the fiber direction and transverse to the fibers in the plane of the ply, and direction 3 refers to the through the-thickness direction. The modulus of the ply in the direction of the fibers is called E11, and the Modulus of the ply is the transverse direction is E22. The transverse to a uniaxial stress in the fiber direction is a strain given by

The response to a uniaxial stress in (transverse) direction 2 is a strain given by

Note that the numbers 1 and 2 indicate directions and have nothing to do with principal stresses. Similarly, an in-plane shear modulus G12 can be defined so that the response to a shear stress is a shear strain given by

The Poissons ratios also can be defined in a similar manner. If one again considers a uniaxial stress in (fiber) direction1, a strain in (transverse) direction 2 will result because of the Poissons effect. The appropriate Poisson ratio can be defined as (For uniaxial stress in direction 1)

48

Chapter 4
Conversely, if a uniaxial stress is applied in (transverse) direction 2, the strain in (fiber) direction 1 can be defined in terms of the appropriate Poissons ratio as (For uniaxial stress in direction 2)

Figure -18 Unidirectional plies with a local 1,2 fiber coordinate system and a global x,y coordinate system. The notation for the Poissons ratio is usually defined as given, although some authors reverse the order of the subscripts. The stress and strain in the through-the-thickness direction can be defined in a similar manner as (For a uniaxial stress in direction 3)

* +

, -* +

The S matrix is often referred to as the compliance matrix for the lamina, or the strain-stress form of material properties with the strains as the dependent variables. It can be shown that the matrices describing the stress-strain relationships of an elastic material must be symmetric, so that relationships such as

49

Chapter 4
Hold for the off-diagonal terms, so that only nine material properties are required to fully characterize the linear behaviour of a lamina in 3-D stress and strain states. The zeros in the compliance matrix reflect the fact that we are describing the stress-strain behaviour of an orthotropic material (rather than a generally anisotropic material) and that the description is made with respect to the principal material axes. 4.3 Experimental Procedures for Lamina Characterization The stiffness properties needed for a plane-stress analysis are the modulus in the fiber direction E11, the modulus transverse to the fiber direction E22 ( in the plane of the lamina), the in plane shear modulus G12, and one of the plane Poisson ratios 12 or 21. These properties are routinely characterized by laboratory experiments. The experiments commonly utilized are described in what follows along with some representative properties. It may also be noted that many of these tests are used for failure properties as well. 4.3.1 E11 and 12 The modulus in the direction of the fibers E11 and the Poisson ratio 12can be characterized by means of tension tests on unidirectional coupons that are instrumented with electric resistance strain gages. The state of stress is uniaxial in the fiber direction; the modulus is just the ratio of stress to strain in that direction. The Poissons ratio is just 12= 2/ 1. It

may be noted that some non linearity may be observed in these tests. For examples, carbonfiber lamina often stiffens somewhat in tension, so that precise measurements of the modulus depend on the procedure used for data reduction. A final secant value for modulus may be 15% higher than a value measured at low strain levels. It also should be noted that the measurement of stress in the data-reduction procedure is based on the total cross sectional area of the combined fiber and matrix, and the fibers are contributing to essentially all of the stiffness, for polymeric matrix composites. Thus, for a given combination of fiber and matrix, the modulus obtained depends on the relative fraction of the cross-section taken up by the fibers, which is also equal to the volume fraction of the fibers. The fiber volume fraction can vary somewhat with manufacturing procedure, so that adjustments for the actual fiber volume fraction may have to be made.

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4.3.2. E22 Tensile coupons are also used for measuring E22, but with the fibers oriented perpendicular to the direction of the applied load. Care must be taken with these specimens, as they are quite fragile in the transverse direction, reflecting the extreme difference in strength between fiber and matrix. Although it is theoretically possible to obtain the Poisson ratio 12from strain gages on this specimen, as a consistency check on the value obtained from the test described before, it is difficult to obtain accurate values in this manner because of the low value of 21, which is on the order of 0.025 for polymer matrix composites. It is common practise to obtain 12from the test for E11, and rely on the reciprocity relationship 21= 12E22

/ E11

4.3.3. G12
The in plane shear modulus can be obtained in a number of ways. One method is to use angle ply coupons, made up of alternating layers of plies at an angle to the axis of the specimen. It will be simply stated that the stress and strain response in the axial direction of 45 laminate can be interpreted to give G12 according to the following expression The fiber wrinkles were neglected. On the basic of mosaic model in which a woven composite was idealized as an assemblage of asymmetrical cross ply laminates. The following equations for evaluating the properties of each unidirectional lamina were used.

E11 = VfEf+VmEm E ME F E22= VMEF+VFEM . /

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12=mVm+fVm

( (

) )

where Em,, Gm, and m, are the matrix elastic properties, Ef, Gf, and vf are the fiber elastic properties, and Vf, represents the fiber volume fraction of the lamina.

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Chapter 5
MANUFACTURING PROCESS 5.1 Introduction Among the many manufacturing process that are explained above for the composite facing Hand Lay Up method is the suitable method for our project and feasible to fabricate the desired size(in case of small specimen), so we fabricate the composite facing by hand layup method. 5.2 Hand lay-up Hand lay-up is the simplest and oldest open moulding method of the composite fabrication processes. It is a low volume, labour intensive method suited especially for large components, such as boat hulls. Glass or other reinforcing mat or woven fabric or roving is positioned manually in the open mould, and resin is poured, brushed, or sprayed over and into the glass plies. Entrapped air is removed manually with squeegees or rollers to complete the laminates structure. Room temperature curing polyesters and epoxies are the most commonly used matrix resins. Curing is initiated by a catalyst in the resin system, which hardens the fiber reinforced resin composite without external heat. For a high quality part surface, a pigmented gel coat is first applied to the mould surface. Hand lay-up is a simple method for composite production. A mould must be used for hand lay-up parts unless the composite is to be joined directly to another structure. The moulds can be as simple as a flat sheet or have infinite curves and edges. For some shapes, moulds must be joined in sections so they can be taken apart for part removal after curing. Before lay-up, the mould is prepared with a release agent to insure that the part will not adhere to the mould. Reinforcement fibers can be cut and laid in the mould. It is up to the designer to organize the type, amount and direction of the fibers being used. Resin must then be catalysed and added to the fibers. A brush, roller or squeegee can be used to impregnate the fibers with the resin. The lay-up technician is responsible for controlling the amount of resin and the quality of saturation. Figure shows the basic process of hand lay-up. Hand lay-up moulding is used for the production of parts of any dimensions such as technical parts with a surface area of a few square feet, as well as swimming pools as large as 1600 square feet (approx. 150 m). But this method is generally limited to the manufacture of parts with relatively simple shapes that require only one face to have a smooth appearance
53

Chapter 5
(the other face being rough from the moulding operation). It is recommended for small and medium volumes requiring minimal investment in moulds and equipment. 5.3 Tools required for the hand lay-up process The basic tools needed for the hand lay-up process, they are Flat sheet (Fabricating surface) Squeezer (To remove entrapped air and to ensure impregnation of resin and fiber) Release agent (insure that the part will not adhere to the mould ) Mixing bowl (To mix the resin and hardener) Measuring Beaker Brush (To apply resin evenly) Weighing machine ( to calculate the weight of fiber)

5.4 Materials used for hand lay-up process Materials used to prepare the specimen, they are Mild steel plate (used as a fabricating surface) Mild steel roller ( used as a squeezer) Wax & PVA (used as a release agent) Glass fiber (Woven roving) Epoxy resin

5.5 Manufacturing process 5.5.1 Precautions Working on glass fiber and Epoxy can cause hazardous health problem, So the safety precautions should be ensured such as Hand gloves should be used to prevent contact with glass fiber and epoxy resin Mask should be used prevent inhalation of resin fumes.

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5.5.2 Surface preparation Mild steel plate which is used as a fabricating surface should be cleaned to remove rust and foreign materials. Now apply wax over the surface of the plate ensure that wax is applied evenly over the plate and remove the excess wax and allow it to dry. Mix PVA with water in ratio 1:5 and apply the solution on the plate. Make sure that the surface should not be disturbed or else the fabricated specimen may not be proper. 5.5.3 Fabrication Cut the woven fiber according to the desired dimension. Mix the resin with hardener based on the required properties (i.e. in the ratio 10:1). Apply the resin over the mild steel plate, Ensure that the resin is applied evenly over the mild steel plate. Place the fiber over the applied resin and make sure that fiber not twisted and apply the resin over the fiber and place another layer of fiber continue the process for the required number of layers. Place the roller over the fiber and squeeze the excess resin to avoid the formation of air bubbles and for the impregnation of resin on fiber. Place the Teflon sheet over the layer of fibers. Place the mild steel plate over the Teflon sheet and apply the weights uniformly over the plate.

Fig 19 manufacturing process

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5.5.4 Defects During initial fabrication we have undergone certain defects, such as The resin was not fully impregnated into the fibre. The fibre got twisted while curing. The air bubbles were formed in the specimen. Fibers were delaminated from lamina. The surface finishing was not smooth at the top. Specimen was deformed.

Fig 20 Defected specimen

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Fig 21 Resin rich area Rectification : After overcoming the defects we fabricated the final specimen which is free from the above defects.

Fig 22 Final specimen

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Chapter 6
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY 6.1 Introduction Mechanical testing plays a significant role in both the design and quality control of composite and sandwich panels. Primarily because of the variability of facing and core material properties, a number of the parameters which appear in the design equations can only be reliably determined on the basis of a statistically significant number of tests. Testing is then used during production in order to ensure that the values of these parameters remain within the assumptions. In addition to the mechanical properties, a number of other properties of composite facing and sandwich structures are generally determined by test method. The following test methods carried out in this project. Tension Test (Composite facing) Bending Test (Sandwich Structure) Impact Test (Sandwich Structure)

6.2 Introduction to Tensile Test Tensile tests are performed for several reasons. The results of tensile tests are used in selecting materials for engineering applications. Tensile properties frequently are included in material specifications to ensure quality. Tensile properties often are measured during development of new materials and processes, so that different materials and processes can be compared. Finally, tensile properties often are used to predict the behaviour of a material under forms of loading other than uniaxial tension. This chapter provides a brief overview of some of the more important topics associated with tensile testing. These include: Tensile specimens and test machines Stress-strain curves, including discussions of elastic versus plastic deformation, yield points, and ductility True stress and strain Test methodology and data analysis

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6.2.1 Tensile Specimens Tensile Specimens: Consider the typical tensile specimen shown in Fig.23. It has enlarged ends or shoulders for gripping. The important part of the specimen is the gage section. The cross-sectional area of the gage section is reduced relative to that of the remainder of the specimen so that deformation and failure will be localized in this region. The gage length is the region over which measurements are made and is centred within the reduced section. The distances between the ends of the gage section and the shoulders should be great enough so that the larger ends do not constrain deformation within the gage section, and the gage length should be great relative to its diameter. Otherwise, the stress state will be more complex than simple tension.

Fig.23.Typical tensile specimen shows a reduced gauge section and enlarged shoulders. There are various ways of gripping the specimen, some of which are illustrated in Fig.24. The end may be screwed into a threaded grip, or it may be pinned; butt ends may be used, or the grip section may be held between wedges. There are still other methods. The most important concern in the selection of a gripping method is to ensure that the specimen can be held at the maximum load without slippage or failure in the grip section. Bending should be minimized.

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Fig - 24 Systems for gripping tensile specimens. For round specimens, these include threaded grips (a), serrated wedges (b), and, for butt end specimens, split collars constrained by a solid collar (c). Sheet specimens may be gripped with pins (d) or serrated wedges (e).

6.2.2 Testing Machines The most common testing machines are universal testers, which test materials in tension, compression, or bending. Their primary function is to create the stress strain curve described in the following section in this chapter. Testing machines are either electromechanical or hydraulic. The principal difference is the method by which the load is applied.

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6.2.2.1 Electromechanical machines It based on a variable-speed electric motor; a gear reduction system; and one, two, or four screws that move the crosshead up or down. This motion loads the specimen in tension or compression. Crosshead speeds can be changed by changing the speed of the motor. A microprocessor-based closed-loop servo system can be implemented to accurately control the speed of the crosshead.

Fig 25 Typical view of electromechanical machines

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6.2.2.2 Hydraulic testing machines
61

It based on either a single or dual-acting piston that moves the crosshead up or down. However, most static hydraulic testing machines have a single acting piston or ram. In a manually operated machine, the operator adjusts the orifice of a pressure-compensated needle valve to control the rate of loading. In a closed-loop hydraulic servo system, the needle valve is replaced by an electrically operated servo valve for precise control. In general, electromechanical machines are capable of a wider range of test speeds and longer crosshead displacements, whereas hydraulic machines are more cost-effective for generating higher forces.

Fig 26 Components of a hydraulic universal testing machine

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6.2.3 Stress-Strain Curves

62

A tensile test involves mounting the specimen in a machine, such as those described in the previous section, and subjecting it to tension. The tensile force is recorded as a function of the increase in gage length. Figure 27 shows a typical curve for a ductile material. Such plots of tensile force versus tensile elongation would be of little value if they were not normalized with respect to specimen dimensions. Engineering stress, or nominal stress, is defined as

where F is the tensile force and A0 is the initial cross-sectional area of the gage section. Engineering strain, or nominal strain, , is defined as

where Lo is the initial gage length and

is the change in gage length (L - Lo).

When force-elongation data are converted to engineering stress and strain, a stressstrain curve Fig. that is identical in shape to the force-elongation curve can be plotted. The advantage of dealing with stress versus strain rather than load versus elongation is that the stress-strain curve is virtually independent of specimen dimensions.

Fig 27 (a) Load-elongation curve from a tensile test and (b) corresponding engineering stress-strain curve

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6.2.4 Test Methodology and Data Analysis
63

This section reviews some of the more important considerations involved in tensile testing. These include: Sample selection Sample preparation Test set-up Test procedure Data recording and analysis Reporting

6.2.4.1 Sample Selection When a material is tested, the objective usually is to determine whether or not the material is suitable for its intended use. The sample to be tested must fairly represent the body of material in question. In other words, it must be from the same source and have undergone the same processing steps. It is often difficult to match exactly the test samples to the structure made from the material. A common practice for testing of large castings, forgings, and composite layups is to add extra material to the part for use as built-in test samples. This material is cut from the completed part after processing and is made into test specimens that have been subjected to the same processing steps as the bulk of the part. In practice, these specimens may not exactly match the bulk of the part in certain important details, such as the grain patterns in critical areas of a forging. One or more complete parts may be sacrificed to obtain test samples from the most critical areas for comparison with the built-in samples. Thus, it may be determined how closely the builtin samples represent the material in question. 6.2.4.2 Sample Preparation It should be remembered that a sample is a quantity of material that represents a larger lot. The sample usually is made into multiple specimens for testing. Test samples must be prepared properly to achieve accurate results. The following rules are suggested for general guidance.

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First, as each sample is obtained, it should be identified as to material description, source, location and orientation with respect to the body of material, processing status at the time of sampling, and the data and time of day that the sample was obtained. Second, test specimens must be made carefully, with attention to several details. The specimen axis must be properly aligned with the material rolling direction, forging grain pattern, or composite layup. Cold working of the test section must be minimized. The dimensions of the specimen must be held within the allowable tolerances established by the test procedure. The attachment areas at each end of the specimen must be aligned with the axis of the bar. Each specimen must be identified as belonging to the original sample. If total elongation is to be measured after the specimen breaks, the gage length must be marked on the reduced section of the bar prior to testing. 6.2.4.3 The test set-up It requires that equipment be properly matched to the test at hand. There are three requirements of the testing machine: force capacity sufficient to break the specimens to be tested; control of test speed (or strain rate or load rate), as required by the test specification; and precision and accuracy sufficient to obtain and record properly the load and extension information generated by the test. This precision and accuracy should be ensured by current calibration certification. For grips, of which many types are in common use in tensile testing, only two rules apply: the grips must properly fit the specimens (or vice versa), and they must have sufficient force capacity so that they are not damaged during testing. As described earlier in the section Tensile Specimens and Testing Machines, there are several techniques for installing the specimen in the grips. With wedge grips, placement of the specimen in the grips is critical to proper alignment. Ideally, the grip faces should be of the same width as the tab ends of the test bar; otherwise, lateral alignment is dependent only on the skill of the technician. The wedge grip inserts should be contained within the grip body or crosshead, and the specimen tabs should be fully engaged by the grips Other types of grips have perhaps fewer traps for the inexperienced technician, but an obvious one is that, with threaded grips, a length of threads on the specimen equal to at least one diameter should be engaged in the threaded grips.

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There are several potential problems that must be watched for during the test set-up, including specimen misalignment and worn grips. The physical alignment of the two points of attachment of the specimen is important, because any off-centre loading will exert bending loads on the specimen. This is critical in testing of brittle materials, and may cause problems even for ductile materials. Alignment will be affected by the testing-machine load frame, any grips and fixtures used, and the specimen itself. Misalignment may also induce loadmeasurement errors due to the passage of bending forces through the load-measuring apparatus. Such errors may be reduced by the use of spherical seats or U joints in the setup.

Fig 28 Improper (left, centre) and proper (right) alignment of specimen in wedge grips Strain measurements are required for man tests. They are commonly made with extensometers, but strain gages are frequently used especially on small specimens or where Poissons ratio is to be measured. If strain measurements are required, appropriate strain measuring instruments must be properly installed. The technician should pay particular attention to setting of the extensometer gage length (mechanical zero). The zero of the strain readout should repeat consistently if the mechanical zero is set properly. In other words, once the extensometer has been installed and zeroed, subsequent installations should require minimal readjustment of the zero.

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6.2.4.4 Test Procedure The following general rules for test procedure may be applied to almost every tensile test. Load and strain ranges should be selected so that the test will fit the range. The maximum values to be recorded should be as close to the top of the selected scale as convenient without running the risk of going past full scale. Ranges may be selected using past experience for a particular test, or specification data for the material (if available). Note that many computer-based testing systems have automatic range selection and will capture data even if the range initially selected is too small. The identity of each specimen should be verified, and pertinent identification should be accurately recorded for the test records and report. The dimensions needed to calculate the cross sectional area of the reduced section should be measured and recorded. These measurements should be repeated for every specimen; it should not be assumed that sample preparation is perfectly consistent. The load-indicator zero and the plot-load-axis zero, if applicable, should be set before the specimen is placed in the grips. Zeroes should never be reset after the specimen is in place. The specimen is placed in the grips and is secured by closing the grips. If preload is to be removed before the test is started, it should be physically unloaded by moving the loading mechanism. The zero adjustment should never be used for this purpose. Note that, in some cases, preload may be desirable and may be deliberately introduced. For materials for which the initial portion of the curve is linear, the strain zero may be corrected for preload by extending the initial straight portion of the stress-strain curve to zero loads and measuring strain from that point. The strain valve at the zero-load intercept is commonly called the foot correction and is subtracted from readings taken from strain scale. When the extensometer, if applicable, is installed, the technician should be sure to set the mechanical zero correctly. The strain-readout zero should be set after the extensometer is in place on the specimen. The test procedure should be in conformance with the published test specification and should be repeated consistently for every test. It is important that the test specification be followed for speed of testing. Some materials are sensitive to test speed,

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and different speeds will give different results. Also, many testing machine loadand strainmeasuring instruments are not capable of responding fast enough for accurate recording of test results if an excessive test speed is used. The technician should monitor the test closely and be alert for problems. One common sign of trouble is a load-versus-strain plot in which the initial portion of the curve is not straight. This may indicate off-centre loading of the specimen, improper installation of the extensometer, or the specimen was not straight to begin with. WARNING: Grip failures are dangerous and may cause injury to personnel and damage to equipment. 6.2.4.5 Analysis of test data It is done at several levels. First, the technician observes the test in progress, and may see that a grip is slipping or that the specimen fractures outside the gage section. These observations may be sufficient to determine that a test is invalid. Immediately after the test, a first-level analysis is performed according to the calculation requirements of the test procedure. ASTM test specifications typically show the necessary equations with an explanation and perhaps an example. This analysis may be as simple as dividing peak force by cross-sectional area or it may require more complex calculations. The outputs of this first level of analysis are the mechanical properties of the material being tested. The results of tests on each sample of material may be stored in a database for future use. The database allows a wide range of analyses to be performed using statistical methods to correlate the mechanical-properties data with other information about the material. For example, it may allow determination of whether or not there is a significant difference between the material tested and similar material obtained from a different supplier or through a different production path. 6.2.4.6 Reporting The test report usually contains the results of tests performed on one sample composed of several specimens.

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When ASTM specifications are used for testing the requirements for reporting are define by the specification. The needs of a particular user probably will determine the form for identification of the material, but the reported result will most likely be as given in the ASTM test specification. The information contained in the test report generally should include identification of the testing equipment, the material tested, and the test procedure; the raw and calculated data for each specimen; and a brief statistical summary for the sample. Each piece of test equipment used for the test should be identified; including serial numbers, capacity or range used, and date of certification or dates due for certification. A continuing record of the average properties and the associated standard deviation and range information is the basis for statistical process control, which systematically interprets this information so as to provide the maximum information about both the material and the test process.

6.2.5 Tension test on composite facing Type of specimen = Rectangular bar Initial gauge length of the specimen = 442 mm Width of the specimen = 70 mm Thickness of the specimen = 1.8 mm Final gauge length of the specimen = 445 mm

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Fig 29 Tensile specimen

S.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Displacement (mm) 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 1.0 1.4 1.5 2 2.2

Load (KN) 1.05 1.25 1.3 1.4 1.55 1.85 1.9 2.55 2.7 3.1 3.65 4.0 Table 3 Tension results

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Result

Fig 30 Deformed Specimen

Enclosure: Tensile graphs

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6.3 Bending test In engineering mechanics, bending (also known as flexure) characterizes the behaviour of a slender structural element subjected to an external load applied perpendicular to an axis of the element. When the length is considerably larger than the width and the thickness, the element is called a beam. Simple beam bending is often analyzed with the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation. The classic formula for determining the bending stress in a member is:

Where: is the bending stress M the moment about the neutral axis y the perpendicular distance to the neutral axis Ixx the area moment of inertia about the neutral axis x

Fig 31 Bending specimen

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6.3.1 Shear and Moment Diagrams For the experimental setup, shear and moment diagrams can be plotted as below

Fig 32 - Three point bending set up SFD and BMD

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6.3.2 Procedure Measure the dimensions of the specimen. Check the limit of the linear region of the aluminium beam (with no strain gage) Open the computer and Instron universal test machine and run the associated software. Prepare the Wheatstone circuit and connect to the cables of strain gages to the defined slot in the previous experiment Strain Gage. Use the digital micrometer to take sample. It must take 10 samples per a second. Adjust the associated Instron program with displacement controlled experiment. Maximum allowed displacement of the specimen is 2mm. After 2 mm it is in plastic region. Also adjust the software to take 10 Force data per a second. Run the experiment.

6.3.3 Results and Conclusions You are expected to get 2 different data after the experiment. The first one indicates the transverse forces applied to the beam and the corresponding vertical Displacements. The second data reveals the voltage values. According to these data, calculate strain and use generalized Hookes Law to obtain the normal stresses along several points on the beam. Use Youngs Modulus as you calculated in the Tension Test Experiment. Calculate the normal stresses by simple beam theory. (You are expected to use Strength of Materials Knowledge) Compare these two values and plot them on the same diagram. Calculate the error of them.

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6.3.4 Bending test Sandwich specimen The mid-point deflection for long beams in three-point Bending

Where b Width of the sandwich specimen L - Length of the specimen

tf Thickness of the Fiber tc Thickness of the core

P Load Ef Youngs modulus of the fiber

Fig 33 Three point bending specimen setup

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Result
S. No Weights (grams) Experimental Deflection (mm) Theoretical Deflection (mm)

1 2 3 4 5 6

50 100 150 200 250 300

0.92 2.12 3.42 5.25 7.08 9.15 Average Deflection = 4.65 mm

0.82 1.93 3.10 4.92 6.85 8.74 Average Deflection = 4.39 mm

Table 4 bending results

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6.4 Impact Test Sandwich panels with cellular core materials offer a high specific strength and an interest energy absorbing ability. Such properties make them a good solution for the protection of aeronautic structures from impacting foreign objects. Penetration/perforation resistances at high impact velocity of sandwich panels are then required to qualify different panels made of different skin materials (aluminium, fibre-reinforced polymer) and cellular cores (honeycomb, foam, hollow sphere, etc.). Common penetration tests for lower velocity (<15m/s) could be performed using a drop hammer with a perforator. The basic measurement in this case is the deceleration of the impact mass, estimated by an accelerometer. The forcedisplacement curves can be derived even though they are sometimes not accurate enough. However, the common testing technique at higher velocity consists in launching with a gas gun a free flying projectile against an immobile target. Such a technique is also used in the case of sandwich panels. The main records were velocities before and after perforation of the panel and there was a lack of whole perforating force-displacement history. One can only have a global energy absorbed during perforation and this makes it very difficult the understanding of what was happened during high speed perforation processes. This paper presents an inverse perforation test where panels samples were launched at high velocity against an 6m long pressure bar at rest, which plays the role of perforator and at the same time force cell providing force and displacement recordings during the whole perforation process.

Fig 34 Typical impact damage in foam core sandwich structure

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6.4.1 Standardized Impact test This method developed specifically for sandwich structure, these method may use of dropping weight test. Amongst the standardized methods, the most important one is ISO 6603 (plastics- Determination of multi-axle impact behaviour of rigid plastics) The test method is applicable for rigid plastics specimens of thickness between 1 and 4 mm. However its stated that it can be used for specimens thicker than 4mm, if the equipment is suitable, but the test then falls outside the scope of this part ISO 6603 . The thickness of FRP sandwich panels is usually considerably greater than 4mm but still the equipment can be assumed in principle to be suitable in most of the cases.

Fig 35 Test configuration in the ISO 6603 Standard used with sandwich specimen

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6.4.2 Stages possibly occurring during a penetrating impact between a hard and strong impactor and a sandwich Face Crushing (through the thickness) The outer or inner face fails in through thickness compression under the impactor tip

Face shear failure The outer or inner face fails locally in inter lamina shear near the sides of the impactor.

In-plane failure of faces The outer or inner face fails local in-plane tension or compression near the sides of the impactor

Flexural failure of faces The outer or inner face fails locally in bending near the sides of the impactor

Core crushing and / or instability The core material is crushed in the thickness direction (compressive failure). This can be in combination with the local compression buckling in the honey comb cores.

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Core shear failure The core fails in the shear near the impactor. In brittle core material, the shear failure can progress over a wide area.

Delamination between outer face and core and/or inner face and core With certain core materials delamination between the inner face and core can occur at an earlier stage

Fig 36 various stages of impact specimen

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Chapter 7
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
7.1 Introduction Sandwich panel has been fabricated and tested experimentally in case of tension and bending, in this chapter FE modelling and numerical analysis of sandwich panel in ANSYS was discussed. 7.2 ANSYS ANSYS is the useful tool in case of structural analysis and useful in predicting the behaviour of the structural elements. The ANSYS mechanical software suite is trusted by organizations around the world to rapidly solve complex structural problems with ease. Structural mechanics solutions from ANSYS provide the ability to simulate every structural aspect of a product, including linear static analyses that simply provides stresses or deformations, modal analysis that determines vibration characteristics, through to advanced transient nonlinear phenomena involving dynamic effects and complex behaviours. All users, from designers to advanced experts, can benefit from ANSYS structural mechanics solutions. The fidelity of the results is achieved through the wide variety of material models available, the quality of the elements library, the robustness of the solution algorithms, and the ability to model every product from single parts to very complex assemblies with hundreds of components interacting through contacts or relative motions. ANSYS structural mechanics solutions also offer unparalleled ease of use to help product developers focus on the most important part of the simulation process understanding the results and the impact of design variations on the model. 7.3 Finite Element Analysis The commercial FEM code ANSYS 10.0 was used for the numerical investigation of the two test rigs. The sandwich panel being analyzed has a Polyurethane core with a Young`s modulus of 25 Mpa and a Poissons ratio of 0.28. On the other hand, the face materials were 6 plies of glass fibre reinforced epoxy resin with a Young`s modulus of 3.4 GPa and Poisson`s ratio of 0.37.

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Chapter 7

In the case of 3-point and 4-point bending test, a 3-D model was constructed with the dimensions of 4403012.6 mm. Solid Brick node 45 Thickness of facing material (6 ply) = 3.6 mm Thickness of core material = 9 mm Facing material has orthotropic property Core material has Isotropic property

Already discussed in chapter-4, the micro mechanics approach used to find the engineering constants, Lamina E1 = 48.676 Gpa E2 = 19.02 Gpa G12 = G23 = G31 = 5.592 Gpa
12 =

23 = 31 = 0.2701

Foam E = 25 Mpa

= 0.28
G = 8.6 Mpa

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Chapter 7

Fig-37: 3-D model of sandwich structure

Fig-38: 3-D meshed model of sandwich panel

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Chapter 7
7.4 Results of simulations and experiments 3-point bending test simulation In the three-point bending configuration, the results are in perfect agreement with the theoretical calculations of the loading and support span lengths.

Fig-39 Deformed position of sandwich structure

S. No

Weights (grams)

Experimental Deflection (mm)

Theoretical Deflection (mm)

Numerical Deflection (mm)

1 2 3 4 5 6

50 100 150 200 250 300

0.92 2.12 3.42 5.25 7.08 9.15

0.82 1.93 3.1 4.92 6.85 8.74

1.31 2.42 3.73 5.43 7.25 9.35

Table-5: Deflection result in 3 Point bending

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10 9 8 Deflection in mm 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Load applied in Grams Experimental Deflection (mm) Theoretical Deflection (mm) Numerical Deflection (mm)

Graph-1: 3 Point bending result

Fig 40: von misses stress or equivalent stress

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4-point bending test simulation In the four-point bending configuration, the results are in perfect agreement with the theoretical calculations of the loading and support span lengths. There is a constant transverse force and minimum bending moment between the outer supports and the inner ones and therefore a constant shear state in the core is observed. The face materials take the tensile and compressive stresses as expected and the core material is loaded in shear. So far, it is showed that the design chosen is quite suitable for the desired failure mechanism which is the shear failure of the core. It is also observed that in the vicinity of the loading points and support points, there is a very high stress concentration which can cause local buckling or indentation of the faces. This also proves the need for a relatively stiffer face material comparing to the core.

Fig-41: Local stress concentrations in the zone of loading and support points in 4point bending test

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Weights S. No 1 2 3 4 5 (grams)

Experimental Deflection (mm) 0.14 0.31 0.56 0.67 0.86

Numerical Deflection (mm) 0.12 0.26 0.36 0.48 0.6

50 100 150 200 250

Table-6: deflection result in 4 - Point bending

1 0.9 0.8

Deflection in mm

0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 50 100 150 200 250 Experimental Deflection (mm) Numerical Deflection (mm)

Load applied in Grams

Graph 2: Four point bending result The load deflection values from tests were used to calculate the shear stress and strain throughout the experiment and ductile behaviour was observed with the reinforced foams. It is evident that the core material has a better resistance to shear loading.

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Fig -42: Von misses stress in distribution in 4 Point bending

0.9 0.8 0.7 Shear stress (Mpa) 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Shear strain (%) PU Foam PU + Fiber

Graph -3: Shear stress-strain curve of PU foams The area under the stress-strain curve is also larger indicating higher energy absorption before failure. In the end it was concluded that reinforcement can bring about considerable improvement to the mechanical properties of foam core materials in sandwich constructions.

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CONCLUSION

Composite facing made up of glass fiber / epoxy is investigated experimentally and numerically. The composite facing and sandwich panel is manufactured by using Hand layup method. Material properties of the composite facing are obtained numerically by using micro-mechanics approach. Both the ends of the composite facing is fixed to the Universal testing machine, continuous load is applied till the specimen reaches the breaking point. Simultaneously the deflection is noted down and the Stress- strain, Load-Displacement graphs are plotted. In numerical study, the test specimens are modelled in accordance to experimental specimens. After applying boundary conditions and force, the bending deflections are obtained for each force value. List of results are graphed. It is seen that the results are very close to the each other. All the experimental and numerical results are presented in graphs. The experimental results are close to the expected theoretical results for all test specimens. The other small variations in the experimental results may occur due to several reasons, Discontinuities in the test specimen material. Differences between the test specimen and tensile specimen materials. Uncertainties in the experimental setup (Line noise, human error, etc.)

In conclusion, when the experimental results are compared with the theoretical results, the observations and study carried on the topic is successfully done.

References
89

 Light Weight Sandwich Construction by J.M.Davies Mechanics of composite materials Second edition 1999 by Jones Engineering composite materials by Harries, B (1999) Mechanics and analysis of fabric composites and structures Evgeny V. Morozov Autex Research Journal, Vol. 4, No2, June 2004 A new hybrid concept for sandwich structures by A.G. Mamalis a,*, K.N. Spentzas b, N.G. Pantelelis b, D.E. Manolakos a, M.B. Ioannidis Laboratory of Manufacturing Technology, National Technical University of Athens may 2007. Zenkert D. An introduction to sandwich construction London, UK: Chameleon Press Ltd.; 1995. Failure of sandwich structures with sub-interface damage Sweden. Numerical analysis of woven fabric composites lubricated spherical plain bearing by Kewei Li, Xue Jin Shen, Youguang Chen, Shanghai 200031,China. A Comparison of FRP-Sandwich penetrating Impact test method by Martin Hildebrand , Finland 1996. Yeditepe university engineering faculty mechanical engineering laboratory, Three point bending test Introduction to tensile testing source: www.asminternational.org/bookstore Andrey Shipsha,

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