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Currently, experimental research on variable stiffness design mainly focuses on laminates. To ensure adaptability in practical application, it is imperative to conduct a systematic study on stiffened variable stiffness structures, including design, manufacture, experiment, and simulation. Based on the minimum curvature radius and process schemes, two types of T-stiffened panels were designed and manufactured. Uniaxial compression tests have been carried out and the results indicate that the buckling load of variable stiffness specimens is increased by 26.0%, while the failure load is decreased by 19.6%. The influence mechanism of variable stiffness design on the buckling and failure behavior of T-stiffened panels was explicated by numerical analysis. The primary reason for the reduced strength is the significantly increased load bearing ratio of stiffeners. As experimental investigations of stiffened variable stiffness structures are very rare, this study can be considered a reference for future work.

An interaction function was constructed based on the axial compression/tension and shear loads of orthotropic plates. The coefficients of the polynomial function were determined by uniaxial test results. Buckling interaction and failure interaction formulae under combined axial tension/compression and shear loads were established. Based on the uniaxial load test results of orthotropic plates, the buckling load and bearing capacity under any proportion of the combined loads could be predicted by using the proposed interaction formulae. The buckling interaction curves and failure envelopes predicted by the proposed interaction formulae were in excellent agreement with the test results.

A finite element model with periodic boundary conditions was developed to investigate the influence of different Z-pin parameters including diameter, spacing, and insertion angle of Z-pin on the elastic properties of composite laminates. Benchmark tests were carried out to verify the FE model and a series of parametric analyses were subsequently performed. In general, all the elastic moduli, excluding the through-thickness modulus (Ez), decreased while Ezincreased nonlinearly with increasing Z-pin diameter and decreasing spacing. The reduction of Ey(transverse modulus) was approximately 40% of that of Ex(longitudinal modulus), while the reduction of Gxyis similar to that of Ex. Besides, Gxzand Gyzwere reduced by approximately half of the reduction of Gxy. Although the impact of insertion angle was obvious on Ez, it was negligible on the other five moduli.

Summary In present paper, the Kane-Mindlin assumptions are applied to homogeneous anisotropic plates undergoing extensional deformations. A complex potential approach is formulated;to that end, a third complex potential is added to the two Lekhniskii complex potentials, [2]. The components of displacement and stress as well as boundary conditions are represented in terms of these three complex potentials. The advantage of the proposed approach is that problems of anisotropic plates under extensional deformations are treated as a quasi-three-dimensional problem by considering the effect of the transverse normal strain.

An approach based on a displacement compatibility model is developed for stiffened composite panels with a crack. Some important improvements on the damage tolerance analysis of the stiffened composite panels have been made in comparison with previous work. Some new results are obtained regarding the effects of adhesive nonlinearity, stringer stiffness and bending, and stringer spacing on strengths and crack growth behaviours of bonded skin/stringer panels. The study indicates that the adhesive nonlinearity benefits the load bearing capacity of the panels. When the stringer is quite thick in comparison to the skin thickness, its out-of-plane bending will lower panel failure strains. Increasing stringer stiffness can not often guarantee the high failure strains of bonded skin/stringer composite panels. As the stringer stiffness exceeds some value, its increase has a negative effect on the load bearing capacity of the panels. For a given ratio of stringer stiffness to panel stiffness, the failure strains of the panels increase as stringer spacing, Wa, decreases. Predictions for failure strains and crack arrest capability agree well with experimental results for several composite panel configurations.

An approach based on a displacement compatibility model is presented for both riveted and bonded stiffened composite panels containing impact damage. This represents the first application of the displacement compatibility model to the failure analysis of impacted stiffened composite panels, and some newresults are obtained for the impact damage tolerance properties of stiffened composite panels. In the present analysis, the previous displacement compatibility model for a stringer/orthotropic skin panel is improved for a stringer/unbalanced skin panel. The impact damage is simplified as an elliptic hole based on the compressive failure mechanisms of impacted composite laminates and stiffened panels. Predictions for failure loads and damage arrest capability agree well with experimental results for several composite panel configurations. The important results obtained in this study are: (1) damage arrest capability is dominated by the strength of the skin/stringer attachment; (2) distinct two-stage failure shows that the riveted panels have significant damage arrest capability due to the high shear strength of the rivets; and (3) since the very low shear strength of the skin/stringer attachment, the co-cured panels have no damage arrest capability.