Motivation
Composite materials are widely used in primary structures of today’s aircrafts and helicopters. In the certification process of new aircrafts, the occupant safety in foreseeable, survivable impact events like emergency landing or bird strike has to be demonstrated.
The effective use of composite materials in energy absorbing structures depends on the ability to reliably predict the onset and propagation of damage in dynamic events such as crash or high velocity impact (HVI). The computational damage prediction of crashworthy composite devices remains a challenging area of ongoing research. Key issues are the development and implementation of suitable constitutive laws and the determination of relevant parameters from material tests.
Objectives
The objectives of this research cooperation are the improvement of composite material models currently being used by DLR and UBC and demonstrating their respective applicability at different structural scales from basic coupon tests up to aircraft substructures.
Research topics
Establish a robust simulation framework to support the effective design of crashworthy/impact-resistant components with reduced reliance on experiments
Evaluate and select simulation approaches suitable for respective design cases
Provide guidelines on the identification of appropriate input parameters and modelling methods