CNT Reinforced Laminated Composite under In-Plane Tensile Loading: A Finite Element Study

Abstract

The present study is mainly aimed at investigating the distribution of in-plane stresses of a rectangular plate under localized uniform in-plane tensile loading through finite element analysis. The configuration used in the analysis is analogous to the case of premature failure of stiffened panel due to the termination of a stiffener in aircraft wing structure. In this current work, three different types of materials namely, isotropic, plain woven and transversely isotropic materials are being considered. Aluminium is taken as isotropic; high strength carbon/epoxy is being assigned as plain woven composite and carbon nanotube based hybrid composite is used as transversely isotropic material, due to their wide range of applications in aircraft structures. The effect of different materials on overall axial, transverse and shear stress distributions at different layers of the stiffened composite panels are demonstrated using finite element analyses. Further, the variations of these stresses along axial and transverse directions are also compared for different materials. It can be concluded from the present study that the peak stress developed near the load application zone should be incorporated in the design criteria of such plates to avoid failure.