Masters Theses

Abstract

"Composite sandwich structures offer several advantages over conventional structural materials such as lightweight, high bending and torsional stiffness, superior thermal insulation and excellent acoustic damping. Some of the failure mechanisms in a composite sandwich structure are de-bonding of the composite facesheets from the core structure and damage due to low-velocity impact. In the first part of this work, adhesive fillet formation and adhesive mechanical strength are evaluated as a function of several different sandwich construction design variables. The effect of film adhesive thickness is studied. A process for reticulation of the adhesive is applied and studied. Optimized combinations of core material, core cell size and adhesive thickness are identified. In the second part, design of experiment (DOE) approach has been used to determine effect of different design factors on the low-velocity impact response of the honeycomb sandwich structures. A completely randomized full factorial design is used while manufacturing and testing the samples. The following three design variables are considered as experiment variables: (1) Angle difference between successive prepreg layers; (2) Number of Prepreg Layers and (3) Number of adhesive layers. Each variable is considered at three levels with two repetitions to observe the following three response variables: (1) Energy absorbed; (2) Peak contact force and (3) Maximum deflection. From the ANOVA table the significant factors for each response variable are identified. A regression analysis is carried out for the quantitative factors to predict empirical models for all three response variables. The regression models are verified with the confirmation test results and both are in close agreement"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Chandrashekhara, K.

Committee Member(s)

Okafor, A. Chukwujekwu (Anthony Chukwujekwu)
Mishra, Rajiv S.

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

2011

Journal article titles appearing in thesis/dissertation

  • Evaluation of skin-core adhesion bond of out-of-autoclave honeycomb sandwich structures
  • Evaluation of low-velocity impact response of honeycomb sandwich structures using design of experiments (DOE)

Pagination

ix, 69 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references.

Rights

© 2011 Ramanjaneya Reddy Butukuri, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Sandwich construction
Honeycomb structures -- Testing
Composite materials -- Testing
Failure mode and effects analysis
Impact -- Testing

Thesis Number

T 10189

Print OCLC #

861706902

Electronic OCLC #

919276565

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