International Journal of Lightweight Materials and Manufacture (Sep 2022)
Influence of imperfection sensitivities on postbuckling of laminated cylindrical panel under axial load: Numerical and experimental investigation
Abstract
Influence of geometric imperfections on postbuckling of layered (laminated) composite cylindrical panels has been performed under axial compression load using finite element code, ANSYS and validated experimentally. Finite element code was initially validated with available literature for performing the further analyses on the panel. Eigen imperfection irregularities were considered for predicting postbuckling loads of layered composite cylindrical panels with SSSS and SFSF boundary conditions with different r/t ratio and ply sequence and compared the results. Glass-polyester laminated cylindrical panels were fabricated and tested using fixture which accommodates different boundary conditions for investigating the postbuckling phenomenon. Experimental postbuckling analysis was carried out to validate the finite element analysis results and found satisfactory. The influence of imperfections with different r/t, stacking sequences with SSSS and SFSF boundary conditions were carried out and compared. As the r/t ratio of the cylindrical panel increases the postbuckling load decreases for a given boundary conditions and with magnitude of imperfection sensitivities. It has been observed that SFSF boundary conditions with angle play layup sequences taking more axial loads than SSSS boundary conditions with same layup sequence and imperfection sensitivity.
