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Development of Through-Thickness Reinforcement in Advanced Composites Incorporating Rigid Cellular Foams

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Abstract

This paper presents a method of joining carbon-fibre plies and rigid cellular foam core with stitching for producing light-weight composite structures. After resin infusion and consolidation, the stitched sandwich panel exhibits superior damage tolerance as well as improved transverse properties due to the presence of through-thickness fibre reinforcement. First part of the paper deals with the conceptual development of a multi-needle stitching machine for rigid foams. A needle penetration model for computing the penetration forces has been reported—there is a good agreement between the experimental and theoretical penetration force-displacement curves. A number of sandwich panels with orthogonal and bias stitch orientations have been developed and examined for stitch quality with the aid of X-ray tomography. The paper also presents results from quasi-static indentation, three-point bending and transverse compression tests, on both the stitched and unstitched sandwich panels.

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Acknowledgments

Authors acknowledge the Henry Moseley X-ray Imaging facility at the University of Manchester for providing the beam time for CT scanning

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  1. A. Aktas

    Present address: Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Textile Composites Group, North West Composites Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    A. Aktas, P. Potluri & I. Porat

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  1. A. Aktas
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  2. P. Potluri
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  3. I. Porat
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Correspondence to P. Potluri.

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Aktas, A., Potluri, P. & Porat, I. Development of Through-Thickness Reinforcement in Advanced Composites Incorporating Rigid Cellular Foams. Appl Compos Mater 20, 553–568 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-012-9285-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-012-9285-4

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