The low interlaminar tensile strength of fiber reinforced composite materials presents serious challenges in the design of structures with a considerable radius of curvature, which is commonly found in a wide range of fields such as aeronautics, civil engineering, maritime industry, energy industry, among others. The objective of the present research was to analyze the interlaminar tensile strength, in the interlaminar layer of a material composed of fiberglass as reinforcement in nylon matrix, using a curved beam elaborated by additive manufacturing. To achieve this, tests were carried out according to ASTM Standard, and to determine which parameters significantly influence the failure of the composite material, variations were made in the thickness of the test specimens, which were manufactured following the criteria of the standard. The results obtained allow the assessment of interlaminar tensile strength and specimen behavior after failure.
In this work, the behaviour of a palm fruit bunch press shaft is investigated, which has presented early failure several times, not reaching its expected lifetime. The study allows determining the failure mode of the shaft by using the finite element method (FEM). The model is used to estimate the load produced by the fruit bunches over the worm screw and transferred to the shaft. Geometrical analysis of the shaft shape helps to determine failure mode. The stress and strain fields are obtained to determine the critical points of the design, in order to propose modifications to the shaft design. Moreover, after a short time of operation, the structure presented plastic deformation, the hexagonal shape in the shaft is repaired using a welding procedure, as showed metallographic and hardness results obtained on surface and subsurface level of the affected area for the fractographic analysis. This is compared with a raw steel SAE AISI 4340 under tempered like original condition.
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