Numerical approach for stiffener debonding prediction of aircraft composite structures

Abstract

Green aviation is a key for the future of the aeronautic industry. So that, light weighting airframe using composite technology is one solution among others, especially for the next generation of business jets. In line with actual regulations and performance objectives, understanding and accurately predicting the different failure modes of composites structures is still a challenge. Modelling the behaviour of structures up to damage, debonding, cracking and failure with finite element computation gives promising results. The present work is carried out in collaboration with labs, which are involved in more academic approaches [6-8] as we focus on industrial applications, adapting academic breakthroughs. A major driver of this work is the need of robustness of the model that has to be fully applicable on complex structures in an industrial context. This paper describes the way chosen to predict debonding and failure of co-cured stiffened composite structures under out of plane loading conditions, and the identification and validation of the proposed model through comparisons of numerical calculations with tests of increasing complexity