Structural optimization and experimental analysis of composite material panels for naval use

Abstract

The purpose of the work is the realization of a composite material with long glass fibers having better characteristic than a fiber random composite, to permit the reduction of weight and costs to shipyards for pleasure craft. Structural optimization is performed by ANSYS for the choice of the layers disposition to obtain the maximum stiffness with minimum material employment, saving weight. The study is centered on the research of the better configurations of plies packing in relation of pure shear stress for four different plies. Unidirectional plies, both symmetric orthotropic and symmetric non-orthotropic ones, are realized successively by the vacuum bag technique. Experimental tests of traction, bending, inter laminar shear and pure shear are executed to characterize the three different type of material. Experimental results are compared to ones obtained numerically to validate the procedures; the comparison with the analytical results permitted to attribute an adequate value to shape factor of the fibers. In all the cases the optimization permitted the construction of much more resistant plies than random ones, with a lower thickness.