Method to Apply Structure Relevant Impact Damage to Small Structure RelevantSpecimens for Damage Tolerance Studies

摘要

An approach is presented to represent stiffened composite panels by small but'structure relevant' (SR-) specimens in compression tests to study failure mechanisms. The necessary support conditions to be applied during low velocity impact tests were determined for the SR-specimens, in order to obtain similar damage as the damage found in stiffened panels. Fractography revealed that the locations of the major delaminations in the SR-specimens due to impact were the same as in stiffened panels. These delaminations occurred where they were expected, suggesting that they can be 'placed' deep inside a laminate for optimum damage tolerance. Initial compression tests on stiffened panels confirmed the high damage tolerance of the configuration considered. (Copyright (c) National Aerospace Laboratory NLR, The Netherlands. 1995.)