Composite Structures

The papers contained herein were presented at the First International Conference on Composite Structures held at Paisley College of Technology, Paisley, Scotland, in September 1981. This conference was organised and sponsored by Paisley College of Technology in association with The Institution of Mechanical Engineers and The National Engineering Laboratory (UK). There can be little doubt that, within engineering circles, the use of composite materials has revolutionised traditional design concepts. The ability to tailor-make a material to suit prevailing environmental conditions whilst maintaining adequate reinforcement to withstand applied loading is unquestionably an attractive proposition. Significant weight savings can also be achieved by virtue of the high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight characteristics of, for example, fibrous forms of composite materials. Such savings are clearly of paramount importance in transportation engineering and in particular aircraft and aerospace applications. Along with this considerable structural potential the engineer must accept an increased complexity of analysis. All too often in the past this has dissuaded the designer from considering composite materials as a viable, or indeed better, alternative to traditional engineering materials. Inherent prejudices within the engineering profession have also contributed, in no small way, to a certain wariness in appreciating the merits of composites. However, the potential benefits of composite materials are inescapable. The last two decades have seen a phenomenal increase in the use of composites in virtually every area of engineering, from the high technology v vi Preface aerospace application to the less demanding structural cladding situation.

Session I: Plenary.- 1. Composite Materials Education in the United States.- 2. Engineering Plastics—Some Factors Affecting Technology Transfer.- Session II: Bolted Connections.- 3. Analysis of the Shearout Failure Mode in Composite Bolted Joints.- 4. Stress and Strength Analysis of Bolted Joints in Composite Laminates.- 5. Some Environmental and Geometric Effects on the Static Strength of Graphite Cloth Epoxy Bolted Joints.- Session III: Environmental Effects.- 6. The Stress-Rupture Behaviour of GRP Laminates in Aqueous Environments.- 7. Water Absorption by Glass Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Resin.- 8. Failure of GRP in Corrosive Environments.- Session IV: Research and Development: Analytical Studies.- 9. Large Deflection Analysis of Bimodular Cross-Ply Strips ….- 10. Analysis of Thermally Stressed Variable Thickness Composite Discs—a CAD Technique.- 11. Optimization of Laminated Shells with Multiple Loading Conditions and Fabrication Constraints.- Session V: Research and Development: Marine Applications.- 12. Recent Developments in Polyester Matrices and Reinforcements for Marine Applications, in Particular Polyester/ Kevlar Composites.- 13. The Testing and Analysis of Novel Top-Hat Stiffener Fabrication Methods for use in GRP Ships.- 14. The Development of Improved FRP Laminates for Ship Hull Construction.- Session VI: Research and Development: Modelling Techniques.- 15. Development of Cylindrically Orthotropic Model Material for Transmission Photoelasticity.- 16. Photoelastic Techniques for the Complete Determination of Stresses in Composite Structures.- 17. A Boundary Layer Approach to the Calculation of Transverse Stresses Along the Free Edges of a Symmetric Laminated Plate of Arbitrary Width Under In-Plane Loading.- Session VII: Physical and Mechanical Characteristics (1).- 18. On the Orthotropic Elastic Behaviour of a Rubber Composite.- 19. The Viscoelastic Response of a Graphite/Epoxy Laminate.- 20. Viscoelastic Properties of Composite Materials.- Session VIII: Structural Analysis: Platework Systems.- 21. Advances in Vibration, Buckling and Postbuckling Studies on Composite Plates.- 22. On the Use of the Effective Width Concept for Composite Plates.- 23. Unsymmetrical Buckling of Laterally Loaded, Thin, Initially Imperfect Orthotropic Plates.- Session IX: Structural Analysis: Structural Systems.- 24. The Effect of Mode Interaction in Orthotropic Fibre Reinforced Composite Plain Channel Section Columns.- 25. The Stability Analysis of a Continuum/Skeletal Fibre Matrix System.- 26. The Postbuckling Behaviour of Composite Box Sections ….- Session X: Physical and Mechanical Characteristics (2).- 27. The Effect of Thermal Strains on the Microcracking and Stress Corrosion Behaviour of GRP.- 28. Electrically Conductive Prepreg Systems.- Session XI: Structural Evaluation Techniques.- 29. Analysis of Composite Materials by Dynamic Thermomechanometry (Dynamic Mechanical Analysis).- 30. Evaluation of Composite Structures by Stress-Wave-Factor and Acoustic Emission.- 31. Vibration Testing of Composite Materials.- Session XII: Design.- 32. A Minimum Energy Composite Automobile.- 33. Structures in Reinforced Composites.- 34. Properties and Performance of GRC.- Session XIII: Experimental Studies.- 35. Buckling of Platestrips—An Evaluation of Six Carbon-Epoxy Laminates.- 36. The Damage Tolerance of High Performance Composites.- 37. Tensile Fatigue Assessment of Candidate Resins for Use in Fibre Reinforced Composite Repair Schemes.- 38. Temperature Increase in SMC Fatigue Testing.- Session XIV: Fabrication Studies including Natural Fibre Composites.- 39. A Unique Approach to Fabricating Precision Space Structures Elements.- 40. Manufacturing Methods for Carbon Fiber/Polyimide Matrix Composites.- 41. The Use of Natural Organic Fibres in Cement: Some Structural Considerations.- 42. On the Possibility of Using Natural Fibre Composites.- Session XV: Fracture and Failure Analysis.- 43. Stress Intensity Factor Measurements in Composite Sandwich Structures.- 44. Progressive Failure Model for Advanced Composite Laminates Containing a Circular Hole.- Session XVI: Research and Development: Analysis of Laminated Structures.- 45. Nonlinear Response of Angle-Ply Laminated Plates to Random Loads.- Session XVII: Physical and Mechanical Characteristics (3).- 46. Effects of Elastomeric Additives on the Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Resin and Composite Systems.- Session XVIII: Finite Element Studies.- 47. A Comparison of the Failure Pressure as Predicted by Finite Element Stress Analysis with the Results of Full Scale Burst Tests on GRP Flanges.- 48. Elastic-Plastic Flexural Analysis of Laminated Composite Plates by the Finite Element Method.