Experimental and numerical evaluation of fracture characteristics of composite material used in the aircraft engine cover manufacturing. (July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Grbović, Aleksandar; Kastratović, Gordana; Božić, Željko; Božić, Ivan; Obradović, Aleksandar; Sedmak, Aleksandar; Sedmak, Simon
• Is Part Of: Engineering failure analysis. Volume 137(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-07
• Subjects: Composite material -- Engine cover -- Finite element analysis -- Numerical simulations/computations; System failures (Engineering) -- Periodicals; Fracture mechanics -- Periodicals; Reliability (Engineering) -- Periodicals; Pannes -- Périodiques; Rupture, Mécanique de la -- Périodiques; Fiabilité -- Périodiques; Fracture mechanics; Reliability (Engineering); System failures (Engineering); Periodicals; Electronic journals; 620.112
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2022.106286
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-6307

Abstract

Highlights: The design of composite engine cover of light aircraft was roughly presented. Mechanical properties of applied composite were experimentally obtained. Failure simulations of composite specimens were conducted in Helius PFA © software. Numerical structural analysis of engine cover was conducted. Conducted analyses determined the final design of the engine cover. Abstract: The aircraft industry is a leading industry in terms of the implementation of new materials and technologies. In the development of a light aircraft several different materials were considered for the engine cover design and the final decision was to select a composite material. Part of the research performed on the cover design is presented in this paper. The composite test specimens were produced and mechanical properties were investigated in the tensile and three-point flexural tests according to the required standards. The comparison of experimentally and numerically obtained mechanical properties showed good agreement, which led to the design, verification and manufacturing of the complex-shaped engine cover without costly and demanding tests. It was considered that numerical simulations of the engine cover performance under different loading conditions yielded realistic results, therefore experimental verification was excluded. The flight tests proved the predicted behavior, thus verifying the design methodology presented in this paper.