Numerical and Experimental Study of a Butt-Joint Thermoplastic Composite Multi-Stringer Panel Under Compression
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Thermoplastic composites enable cost-competitive structural designs, such as butt-joint fuselage structures, which are typically not feasible using thermoset composites. This presentation introduces numerical and experimental testing results for a butt-joint thermoplastic composite multi-stringer panel under compression. The aim of the work is to accurately predict and test the panel’s failure behavior in postbuckling. As a further development of van Dooren et al., additional stiffeners are included in the design to study the effect of load-redistribution under the presence of damage. Special attention is paid to the preparation of the test panels to minimize the imperfections from manufacturing and to ensure a consistent load introduction by means of a newly developed fixture and loading blocks. A multiscale (local-global) Digital Image Correlation pattern is designed to monitor damage growth of an artificial skin-stringer delamination representing barely visible impact damage. The purpose is to locally detect the propagation of the delamination front as well as the global postbuckling behavior under compressive loading.