TY - JOUR
T1 - Experimental and numerical investigation of the strain rate-dependent compression behaviour of a carbon-epoxy structure
AU - Schmack, T.
AU - Morgado Martins Filipe, T.M.
AU - Deinzer, G.
AU - Kassapoglou, C.
AU - Walther, F.
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - The usage of fibre-reinforced composites in automotive body structures is still a rarity. The main goal in body structure development is to design lightweight structures as cost-efficient as possible. This research contributes to the approach of maximal material usage by considering the strength increase of a carbon-epoxy laminate with increasing strain rate. The objective was to substantiate the well-known material characteristic's strain rate dependency from a coupon level to realistic body structure component – experimentally and numerically. Hence, a special compression fixture was developed to obtain all necessary characteristic values of the investigated T700S DT120 prepreg system. The rectangular coupon specimens were loaded with quasi-static to intermediate strain rates (2×10-4 to 70s-1). A second compression fixture was developed to axial load omega cross-sectional specimens with strain rates from 2×10-4 to 5s-1. The experimental tests showed a significant increase of +23% and +21% in compression strength for rectangular coupon specimens and omega cross-sectional components, respectively. Furthermore, the numerical simulation showed the same increase in strength of +21% for omega cross-sectional components. This work has proven the necessity of considering the strain rate dependency of a composite material to accurately predict the maximum load capacity of a structure during a dynamic load event like a crash.
AB - The usage of fibre-reinforced composites in automotive body structures is still a rarity. The main goal in body structure development is to design lightweight structures as cost-efficient as possible. This research contributes to the approach of maximal material usage by considering the strength increase of a carbon-epoxy laminate with increasing strain rate. The objective was to substantiate the well-known material characteristic's strain rate dependency from a coupon level to realistic body structure component – experimentally and numerically. Hence, a special compression fixture was developed to obtain all necessary characteristic values of the investigated T700S DT120 prepreg system. The rectangular coupon specimens were loaded with quasi-static to intermediate strain rates (2×10-4 to 70s-1). A second compression fixture was developed to axial load omega cross-sectional specimens with strain rates from 2×10-4 to 5s-1. The experimental tests showed a significant increase of +23% and +21% in compression strength for rectangular coupon specimens and omega cross-sectional components, respectively. Furthermore, the numerical simulation showed the same increase in strength of +21% for omega cross-sectional components. This work has proven the necessity of considering the strain rate dependency of a composite material to accurately predict the maximum load capacity of a structure during a dynamic load event like a crash.
KW - Carbon fibre
KW - Compression strength
KW - Epoxy
KW - Finite Element Analysis
KW - Prepreg
KW - Strain rate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85041401657&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:22737e49-85a6-42cb-b91e-885fa5bc832d
U2 - 10.1016/j.compstruct.2017.11.025
DO - 10.1016/j.compstruct.2017.11.025
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85041401657
SN - 0263-8223
VL - 189
SP - 256
EP - 262
JO - Composite Structures
JF - Composite Structures
ER -