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Effect of Z-Pinning on the Tensile and Impact Properties of Skin-Stringer via a ZPI (Z-Pin Pre-Hole Insertion) Process

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Abstract

Composite skin-stringer structures are widely used in engineering, and the Z-pinning technology is employed to attach the skin-stringer structure to prevent it from debonding. In this paper, we propose a low-in-plane damage ZPI (Z-pin pre-hole insertion) technology for fabricating a simplified skin-stringer joint to investigate the tensile and impact properties of a Z-pinned skin-stringer structure. What’s more, the failure modes and the toughening mechanism of the specimen have been analyzed. It is found that the ZPI process can reduce the likelihood of fiber crushing and breaking. In addition, the reduced Z-pin inclination angle of the ZPI process can reduce crack initiation and expansion at the bonded interface. The tensile tests reveal that a thicker Z-pin is more beneficial for improving the total energy absorption, while the thinner Z-pin is better for failure displacement at the same Z-pin volume content. Moreover, the use of 0° ply should be limited during the layer design. The impact tests show that the Z-pinning bridging effect is insignificant or even deteriorates under the high-speed impact. Z-pinning can also lessen deflection after impact and improve impact resistance. However, Z-pinning has little effect on the amount of impact energy absorbed by the specimen. Furthermore, Z-pins can effectively inhibit mode II crack propagation by fracturing themselves to making GIIC significantly higher, but when the specimen is penetrated, Z-pins cannot form a large bridging zone, and the snubbing effect is not evident. These results can provide some guidance for fabricating the Z-pinned skin-stringer joint.

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The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time as the data also forms part of an ongoing study.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Key Technology Research of Composite Fan Blade Molding Process Program (KF050056) through the AVIC Composite Material Co., Ltd., funded by the State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defence, PRC (China). Thanks to the Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for High Performance Manufacturing of Aero Engines (Northwestern Polytechnical University).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China

    Weiwei Liu, Kexin Jin & Mingxin Yin

  2. AECC Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China

    Xiangqian Li & Zhang Ting

  3. Xi’an Institute of Applied Optics, Shaanxi Province, Xi’an, China

    Yan Bin

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  1. Weiwei Liu
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Correspondence to Kexin Jin.

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Liu, W., Jin, K., Li, X. et al. Effect of Z-Pinning on the Tensile and Impact Properties of Skin-Stringer via a ZPI (Z-Pin Pre-Hole Insertion) Process. Appl Compos Mater 30, 607–633 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-023-10104-0

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