In this study, a simplified approach that can be used for the selection of the design parameters of carbon and glass fiber reinforced composite beams is presented. Important design parameters including fiber angle orientation, laminate thickness, materials of construction, cross-sectional shape, and mass are considered. To allow for the integrated selection of these parameters, structural indices and efficiency metrics are developed and plotted in design charts. As the design parameters depend on mode of loading, normalized structural metrics are defined for axial, bending, torsional, and combined bending-torsional loading conditions. The design charts provide designers with an accurate and efficient approach for the determination of stiffness parameters and mass of laminated composite beams. Using the design charts, designers can readily determine optimum fiber direction, number of layers in a laminate, cross-sectional shape, and materials that will provide the desired mass and stiffness. The laminated composite beams were also analyzed through a detailed finite element analysis study. Three-dimensional solid elements were used for the finite element modelling of the beams. To confirm design accuracy, numerical results were compared with close-form solutions and results obtained from the design charts. To show the effectiveness of the design charts, the simplified method was utilized for increasing the bending and torsional stiffness of a laminated composite robotic arm. The results show that the proposed approach can be used to accurately and efficiently analyze composite beams that fall within the boundaries of the design charts.
This paper reports analyses of a 5-degrees-of-freedom (5-DOF) carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) robot manipulator, which has been developed for farm applications. The manipulator was made of aluminum alloy (AA) and steel materials. However, to check the effectiveness of CFRP materials on the static and free-vibration performance of the manipulator, the AA parts were replaced with CFRP. For this purpose, the effects of various cross-sections and layups on three design criteria—deflection, load-carrying capacity, and natural frequency—were investigated. Two types of thin-walled laminated sections, specifically the I section and rectangular tubular sections, were used for the composite parts. These parts were made from three hollow square section (“SSS” section) beams and three I section (“III” section) beams. These multi-cell beams were modeled using the finite element (FE) method. Three configurations were selected for analysis based on the manipulator’s most common operating conditions. The results indicated that the use of CFRP increased the manipulator’s natural frequencies, increased the load-carrying capacity, and decreased the manipulator’s tip deflection when compared with its AA counterpart. An analysis showed that using CFRP in the manipulator’s structure could improve static and vibrational performances. It was observed that the “SSS” section beams were 1.17 times stiffer, could carry a 1.20 times higher load, and were 1.40 times heavier than the “III” section beams. Also, decreasing the fiber direction in angle-ply layups from 90° to 0° and adding 0° plies, while keeping the total number of layers constant, decreased the manipulator’s tip deflection and increased its natural frequencies.
In this paper, a simplified approach for the design of thin-walled laminated composite beam structures is presented. For this purpose, structural efficiency metrics have been developed that allow for the integrated selection of layup sequence, materials of construction, and cross-sectional shape of laminated composite beams. The structural efficiency metrics are plotted in design charts for axial, bending (in both cross-section’s principal directions), and torsional loading conditions. The design charts provide the designer with an accurate and efficient approach for the selection of the optimum fiber direction, number of layers in the laminate, and mass of the overall structure. The results are generated for two different sizes of envelopes to analyze various cross-sectional types and sizes. It is shown that the design charts can be applied to single open and closed loop cross sections as well as multi-cell sections. The proposed simplified approach and developed design charts have been used for increasing the bending and torsional stiffness of a laminated composite robotic arm. The results show that the design charts can be used to accurately predict stiffnesses and deformations and assist the designer in selecting the various parameters that govern the performance of laminated composite beams.
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