The behavior of GFRP-stiffened and -unstiffened shells under cyclic axial loading and unloading

Abstract

The results of an experimental study on the cyclic axial loading and unloading behaviors of thin-walled GFRP cylindrical shells are presented. Each specimen was tested first under pure axial compression until the first visible damage occurred, At that point, loading stopped and the unloading step started until the load returned to zero. Based on the results, it seems that for cyclic loading, using stiffened shells is better than using unstiffened shells. On the other hand, the damage growth in the stiffened shells is slower than in the unstiffened shells. For aerospace and aircraft structures, which have been using cyclic axial loading, it seems that composite structures with composite helical stiffeners are better than unstiffened composite structures.

Keywords

cyclic loading unloading composite stiffened shell

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Baker WE and Bennett JG Experimental investigation of buckling of nuclear containment like cylindrical geometries under combined shear and bending. Nucl Eng Des 1984; 79: 211-216.

Kim TD Fabrication and testing of composite isogrid stiffened cylinder. Compos Struct 1999; 45: 6-10.

Kim TD Fabrication and testing of thin composite isogrid stiffened panel. Compos Struct 2000; 49: 21-25.

Meyer-Piening HR Buckling loads of CFRP unstiffened composite cylinders under combined axial and torsion loading-experiments and computations . Compos Struct 2001; 53: 427-435.

Bisagni C. and Cordisco P. An experimental investigation into the buckling and post-buckling of CFRP shells under combined axial and torsion loading. Compos Struct 2003; 60: 391-402.

Wodesenbet E. and Kidane S. Optimization for buckling loads of grid stiffened composite panels. Compos Struct 2003; 60: 159-169.

Kidane S. and Wodesenbet E. Buckling load analysis of grid stiffened composite cylinders. Composites Part B 2003; 34: 9-15.

Bisagni C. and Cordisco P. Post-buckling and collapse experiments of stiffened composite cylindrical shells subjected to axial loading and torque. Compos Struct 2006; 73: 138-149.

Li Z-M and Shen H. -S. Post-buckling analysis of three-dimensional textile composite cylindrical shells under axial compression in thermal environments . Compos Sci Technol 2008; 68: 872-879.

10.

Shen H. -S. Boundary layer theory for the buckling and post-buckling of an anisotropic laminated cylindrical shell. Part I: Prediction under axial compression. Compos Struct 2008; 82: 346-361.

11.

Yazdani M. , Rahimi H. , Khatibi AA and Hamzeh S. An experimental investigation into the buckling of GFRP stiffened shells under axial loading. Sci Res Essay 2009; 9: 914-920.

12.

Yazdani M. and Rahimi GH The effects of helical ribs’ number and grid types on the buckling of thin-walled GFRP-stiffened shells under axial loading. J Reinf Plast Compos 2010; 29(17): 2568-2575.