Colin Cannon

Graduation Semester and Year

2012

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

First Advisor

Wen Chan

Abstract

Composite structure in the aircraft industry has been in development for well over half a century and yet the understanding of the effects of a square cutout is generally limited to quasi-isotropic laminates. Currently, the closed-form solution to calculate the stresses around a cutout is limited to symmetric anisotropic laminates with limitations on the cutout shapes. Finite Element Analysis, using MSC PATRAN and NASTRAN, was performed on 2D composite laminates containing square cutouts with rounded corners. The laminate stacking sequence was varied from symmetrical and balanced to unsymmetrical and unbalanced and the square cutouts each had different radii at the corners. The stress concentration factors from a uniaxial load were identified at the laminate and the lamina level. The effects of the stacking sequence and the varying radii were identified to better understand the physics of a square cutout in a composite plate.

Disciplines

Aerospace Engineering | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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