Buckling and postbuckling analysis of stiffened composite panels in axial compression

The major objective of this study is to analyze buckling and delamination behavior of composite stiffened panels subjected to axial compression.; First, a combined analytical and experimental study of a blade stiffened composite panel subjected to axial compression was conducted. The effects of the differences between a simple model used to design the panel and the actual experimental conditions were examined. It was found that in spite of many simplifying assumptions the design model did reasonably well in that the experimental failure load was only 10% higher than the design load. Several structural analysis programs, including PANDA2, STAGS, and ABAQUS, were used to obtain high fidelity analysis results. The buckling loads from STAGS agreed well with the experimental failure loads. However, substantial differences were found in the out-of-plane displacements of the panel. Efforts were made to identify the source of these differences. Implementing non-uniform load introduction with general contact definition in the STAGS finite element model improved correlation between the measured and predicted out-of-plane deformations.; Next, a new method called Crack Tip Force Method (CTFM) is derived for computing point-wise energy release rate along the delamination front in delaminated plates. The CTFM is computationally simple as the G is computed using the forces transmitted at the crack-tip between the top and bottom sub-laminates and the sub-laminate properties.; Finally, buckling and postbuckling of a blade-stiffened composite panel under axial compression with a partial skin-stiffener debond are investigated. Two different finite element models, where nodes of the panel skin and the stiffener flange are located on the mid-plane or at the interface between skin and flange, are used. Linear buckling analysis is conducted using both STAGS and ABAQUS. Postbuckling analysis is conducted with STAGS. Comparison between the present results and previous buckling analysis results show a good correlation. Buckling analysis results for various stiffener geometries and debond ratios are presented.