Virtual testing of composites in aerospace

Canadas aerospace industry relies on expensive and time-consuming testing campaigns to introduce new composites or obtain baseline material properties. Design allowables (e.g., strength used in design phases) are obtained from empirical knock-down factors that account for temperature, environment, etc. This approach is over-conservative and disconnected from physical grounds; it also leads to situations where different teams in the same company (e.g., Bombardier) use different factors for the same part. Having accurate predictive models could reduce testing and decrease knock-down factors. Composites failure is a complex multi-scale process and no “simple” theory can accurately predict composites failure. At this stage, no framework seems to emerge as more suitable.
The principal objective of this project is to plan how using existing and novel composite failure predictive models and techniques can reduce testing and determine more accurate design factors. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Martin Levesque

Student:

Ilyass Tabiai

Partner:

Bombardier Aeronautic Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Aerospace and defense

University:

Program: