Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Peridynamic Approaches For Damage Prediction In Carbon Fiber And Carbon Nanotube Yarn Reinforced Polymer Composites, Forrest E. Baber

Theses and Dissertations

Aerospace structures are increasingly utilizing advanced composites because of their high specific modulus and specific strength. While the introduction of these material systems can dramatically decrease weight, they pose unique certification challenges, often requiring extensive experimental testing in each stage of the design cycle. The expensive and time-consuming nature of experimental testing necessitates the advancement of simulation methodologies to both aid in the certification process and assist in the exploration of the microstructure design space.

Peridynamic (PD) theory, originating from Sandia National Lab’s in the early 2000’s, is a nonlocal continuum-based method that reformulates the equation of motion into an …

Structural Health Monitoring Of Composite Parts: A Review, Jacob Pessin

Honors Theses

Structural health monitoring has the potential to allow composite structures to be more reliable and safer, then by using more traditional damage assessment techniques. Structural health monitoring (SHM) utilizes individual sensor units that are placed throughout the load bearing sections of a structure and gather data that is used for stress analysis and damage detection. Statistical time based algorithms are used to analyze collected data and determine both damage size and probable location from within the structure. While traditional calculations and life span analysis can be done for structures made of isotropic materials such as steel or other metals, composites …

The Effect Of Biocomposite Material In A Composite Structure Under Compression Loading, Benjamin Andrew Sweeney

Master's Theses

While composite structures exhibit exceptional strength and weight saving possibilities for engineering applications, sometimes their overall cost and/or material performance can limit their usage when compared to conventional structural materials. Meanwhile ‘biocomposites’, composite structures consisting of natural fibers (i.e. bamboo fibers), display higher cost efficiency and unique structural benefits such as ‘sustainability’. This analysis will determine if the integration of these two different types of composites are beneficial to the overall structure. Specifically, the structure will consist of a one internal bamboo veneer biocomposite ply; and two external carbon fiber weave composite plies surrounding the bamboo biocomposite. To acquire results …

Feasibility Analysis For Electrically-Powered Hoverboard, Cameron Chan, Jason Cortez, Jay Lopez

Aerospace Engineering

Composite materials are engineered by combining two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties in such a way that the constituents are still distinguishable, and not fully blended. Due to today’s high rising prices of gasoline and aviation fuel costs, many manufacturers have turned to the use of lightweight composites in their designs due to the advantages of the composite material, which include outstanding strength, excellent durability, high heat resistance, and significant weight reduction that the composite material properties hold. The purpose of this project is to design and construct a composite structure for an electrically-powered …