A Novel Approach to Modeling Arbitrary Damage in Composite Structures through a Discontinuous Galerkin Cohesive Zone Model

Finite Element Methods (FEMs) are widely employed for damage simulation in composites, with the Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) being particularly favored for its robustness and scalability. Despite the CZM's mesh-dependent nature, the Discontinuous Galerkin Cohesive Zone Model (DG/CZM) formulation allows for relatively arbitrary crack propagation...

Design and validation of an ice adhesion set-up: Analysis of ice, surfaces and scatter

Ice accumulation on aircraft surfaces is a prevalent issue, and icephobic coating strategies can be implemented to assist in the removal of or ice on an aircraft. However little is known regarding the effects of novel icephobic coatings and surfaces on ice adhesion strength, which is difficult to measure and quantify, and is typically reported...

Optimization of a representative wing component using a Genetic Algorithm

This thesis aims to study the design and optimization of composite wing components for aircraft, focusing on the pivotal goal of reducing weight while preserving and enhancing structural performance. This is one of the goals of the COST Action joined in the span of the thesis: CA18203 - Optimising Design for Inspection (ODIN). Within this COST...

A Semi-Analytical Approach for Predicting the Stresses and Failure Modes of Composite Lugs

Lugs are a specific type of joint with a semi-circular geometry around the pinhole utilized in the aerospace field. Its distinct geometry and ability to carry loads in its plane make it a very common choice for design engineers. Although this type of joint is widely used, there are no analytical equations that can predict the stresses around the...

Predicting Future Aircraft Spare Part Purchases by Using Previous Sales Records and Technical Maintenance Documentation: Master Thesis Aerospace Engineering

Efficient maintenance scheduling is a critical objective for aircraft carriers and Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Organizations (MROs) to minimize aircraft downtime. While predictive maintenance models have improved, accurately identifying materials, especially spare parts, for specific maintenance events remains challenging. This paper...

Predicting Impact Damage for Carbon Composite Propeller Certification: Using ASTM D7136 and quasi-static testing to predict component impact damage.

During this research, a new approach to predict impact damage was evaluated using the PAL-V Liberty’s propeller blade as the test subject. The purpose of this research was to provide a simple method for impact damage prediction which will support the certification activities of the PAL-V propeller.<br/>This method involves conducting a threat...

Optimisation of Fibre Metal Laminate Splice Designs with Focus on Fatigue Performance: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach

Fibre Metal Laminates (FMLs) have been widely utilised in aircraft structures for their specific strength, durability and damage tolerance. Most aircraft structures, due to their size, require joining, and FMLs allow for a special type of joint called the splice, a unique but a lesser known joint.<br/><br/>The bulk of research into the splice...

Leading Edge Rain Erosion and Lifetime Prediction of Advanced Polymer Coatings for Wind Turbine Blades

The increasing focus on sustainable living and the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels has led to a growing interest in renewable energy sources. Among these, the wind energy sector has not only experienced significant growth in terms of numbers but also in size. Larger turbines lead to more severe leading-edge erosion and further increase...

Development of a quasi-static simulation methodology for a damage tolerance assessment of impact damage in bonded CFRP structures

The concept of lightweight design is driving future aircraft to exploit all the available strength of materials and further reduce the weight of an aircraft leading to lower fuel consumption and more sustainable aviation. Current designs introduce rivets and bolts to join the structure and simultaneously create holes in the pristine material,...

Effect of different fibre orientations at the interface on fatigue delamination growth

Composite materials have multiple failure modes. Most of these failure modes are dedicated to the different layers, e.g., delamination. Unfortunately, these damages can occur internally, causing it to be invisible to the naked eye. A better understanding of how this happens and what causes it, is required to ensure safety. Therefore, for this...

Validation of Breathing Modes in Wind Turbine Blade Finite Element Models

Wind energy is a growing industry, and in an effort to reduce costs and increase turbine efficiency, rotor blades are becoming increasingly large in size. To facilitate this effort, the SmartBlades2 research project has designed, built, and tested a set of prototype research blades. As part of the SmartBlades2 project, high sensor density modal...

Design of a turbine blade root connection with bushings

With a growing demand for longer blades in the wind turbine industry for higher rated power per turbine, a structurally sound blade-root connection is of commercial importance. Bushing connections have been a commercially favoured design in the past few years, replacing the commonly used T-bolt connection as the joining method of choice. The new...

Damage Tolerant Design for Additive Manufacturing: An experimental study on the fatigue behaviour of stretch dominated AlSi10Mg multiple load path specimens

To expand the use of additive manufacturing in aerospace towards more critical applications, it is required to design parts in a damage tolerant context. Therefore, the damage tolerance of additive manufactured multiple load path structures is assessed by analysing the fatigue life and damage propagation of components with increasing redundancy....