Face Sheet/Core Disbond Growth in Honeycomb Sandwich Panels Subjected to Ground-Air-Ground Pressurization and In-Plane Loading

Typical damage modes in light honeycomb sandwich structures include face sheet/core disbonding and core fracture, both of which can pose a threat to the structural integrity of a component. These damage modes are of particular interest to aviation certification authorities since several in-service occurrences, such as rudder structural failure and other control surface malfunctions, have been attributed to face sheet/core disbonding. Extensive studies have shown that face sheet/core disbonding and core fracture can lead to damage propagation caused by internal pressure changes in the core. The increasing use of composite sandwich construction in aircraft applications makes it vitally important to understand the effect of ground-air-ground (GAG) cycles and conditions such as maneuver and gust loads on face sheet/core disbonding. The objective of the present study was to use a fracture mechanics based approach developed earlier to evaluate the loading at the disbond front caused by ground-air-ground pressurization and in-plane loading. A honeycomb sandwich panel containing a circular disbond at one face sheet/core interface was modeled with three-dimensional (3D) solid finite elements. The disbond was modeled as a discrete discontinuity and the strain energy release rate along the disbond front was computed using the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT). Special attention was paid to the pressure-deformation coupling which can decrease the pressure load within the disbonded sandwich section significantly when the structure is highly deformed. The commercial finite element analysis software, Abaqus/Standard, was used for the analyses. The recursive pressure-deformation coupling problem was solved by representing the entrapped air in the honeycomb cells as filled cavities in Abaqus/Standard. The results show that disbond size, face sheet thickness and core thickness are important parameters that determine crack tip loading at the disbond front. Further, the pressure-deformation coupling was found to have an important load decreasing effect [6]. In this paper, a detailed problem description is provided first. Second, the analysis methodology is presented. The fracture mechanics approach used is described and the specifics of the finite element model, including the fluid-filled cavities, are introduced. Third, the initial model verification and validation are discussed. Fourth, the findings from a closely related earlier study [6] are summarized. These findings provided the basis for the current investigation. Fifth, an aircraft ascent scenario from 0 to 12192 m (0 to 40000 ft) is considered and the resulting crack tip loading at the disbond front is determined. In-plane loading to simulate maneuvers and gust conditions are also considered. Sixth, the results are shown for a curved panel, which was used to simulate potential fuselage applications. Finally, a brief summary of observations is presented and recommendations for improvement are provided

Determining the physical limits on semi‐active control performance: a tutorial

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106822/1/stc1602.pd

CO<inf>2</inf> absorption using diethanolamine-water solutions in a rotating spiral contactor

Results for mass transfer in a rotating spiral device are presented here for absorption of carbon dioxide from nitrogen carrier gas using mixtures of diethanolamine (DEA) and water. The ability of the device to examine the full range of flow rate ratio for the two phases while controlling the relative thicknesses of the phase layers is applied to surveying absorption performance over a wide range of DEA concentration at 312 K and 1.8 bara. Comparisons are made for a fixed 86 μm liquid layer thickness, which is shown to fix also the fraction of the liquid accessible by diffusion, while maintaining 90% removal of CO2 from a gas stream of 10% (mole) CO2 in nitrogen. The increasing liquid viscosity with DEA fraction is countered by reducing the liquid flow rate to maintain constant liquid layer thickness and diffusion depth. The allowed gas throughput, while meeting 90% removal, increases with DEA concentration until the increasing viscosity gives sufficient reduction in liquid flow rate to offset the increasing CO2 capacity of the liquid. The maximum gas flow rate has a broad peak centred at a DEA mole fraction of about 0.072 (31% by mass). Utilisation of the amine is increased as DEA concentration increases, apparently as a result of the longer residence time, suggesting an effect of chemical time scales on the order of seconds. For a fixed concentration, full utilisation of the amine is achieved by decreasing the liquid flow rate, which reduces layer thickness and increases diffusion time. The work highlights the use of the rotating spiral for rapid and accurate testing to determine optimum liquid composition of absorbent formulations

Muon capture on nuclei with N > Z, random phase approximation, and in-medium renormalization of the axial-vector coupling constant

We use the random phase approximation to describe the muon capture rate on ${}^{44}$Ca,${}^{48}$Ca, ${}^{56}$Fe, ${}^{90}$Zr, and ${}^{208}$Pb. With ${}^{40}$Ca as a test case, we show that the Continuum Random Phase Approximation (CRPA) and the standard RPA give essentially equivalent descriptions of the muon capture process. Using the standard RPA with the free nucleon weak form factors we reproduce the experimental total capture rates on these nuclei quite well. Confirming our previous CRPA result for the $N = Z$ nuclei, we find that the calculated rates would be significantly lower than the data if the in-medium quenching of the axial-vector coupling constant were employed.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Meson-exchange contributions to the nuclear charge operator

The role of the meson-exchange current correction to the nuclear charge operator is studied in electron scattering processes involving the excitation of medium and heavy nuclei to energies up to the quasi-elastic peak. The effect of these contributions in the quasi-free electron scattering process is a reduction of at most a 3% in the longitudinal response at the energy of the peak, a value which is below the experimental error and must not be taken into account in calculations in this energy region. On the other hand, the excitation of low-lying nuclear levels of neutronic character shows, with respect to the protonic ones, a considerable effect due to the inclusion of the two-body term in the charge operator. More realistic calculations, such as those performed in the random-phase approximation framework, give rise to a mixing of one particle-one hole configurations of both kinds which reduce these effects. However, it has been found that the excitation of some of these levels is sizeably affected by the meson-exchange contribution. More precise experimental data concerning some of these states, such as e.g. the high-spin states in 208Pb, could throw some light in the problem of a more feasible determination of these effects and, as a consequence, could provide an alternative procedure to obtain the charge neutron form factor.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, LateX file and Postscript figure

Short-range correlations in low-lying nuclear excited states

The electromagnetic transitions to various low-lying excited states of 16O, 48Ca and 208Pb are calculated within a model which considers the short-range correlations. In general the effects of the correlations are small and do not explain the required quenching to describe the data.Comment: 6 pages, 2 postscript figures, 1 tabl

Phosphoethanolamine Transferase LptA in Haemophilus ducreyi Modifies Lipid A and Contributes to Human Defensin Resistance In Vitro

Haemophilus ducreyi resists the cytotoxic effects of human antimicrobial peptides (APs), including α-defensins, β-defensins, and the cathelicidin LL-37. Resistance to LL-37, mediated by the sensitive to antimicrobial peptide (Sap) transporter, is required for H. ducreyi virulence in humans. Cationic APs are attracted to the negatively charged bacterial cell surface. In other gram-negative bacteria, modification of lipopolysaccharide or lipooligosaccharide (LOS) by the addition of positively charged moieties, such as phosphoethanolamine (PEA), confers AP resistance by means of electrostatic repulsion. H. ducreyi LOS has PEA modifications at two sites, and we identified three genes (lptA, ptdA, and ptdB) in H. ducreyi with homology to a family of bacterial PEA transferases. We generated non-polar, unmarked mutants with deletions in one, two, or all three putative PEA transferase genes. The triple mutant was significantly more susceptible to both α- and β-defensins; complementation of all three genes restored parental levels of AP resistance. Deletion of all three PEA transferase genes also resulted in a significant increase in the negativity of the mutant cell surface. Mass spectrometric analysis revealed that LptA was required for PEA modification of lipid A; PtdA and PtdB did not affect PEA modification of LOS. In human inoculation experiments, the triple mutant was as virulent as its parent strain. While this is the first identified mechanism of resistance to α-defensins in H. ducreyi, our in vivo data suggest that resistance to cathelicidin LL-37 may be more important than defensin resistance to H. ducreyi pathogenesis