Development of a robust virtual design environment for structural composites

高性能碳纤维复合材料已日益成为大型商用飞机结构的首选材料。目前，这些结构的适航性认证依赖于从数千次小规模优惠券测试到一次全面测试的众多测试。在此期间，对构件、细节和子结构进行了大量试验，以确定复杂载荷下的静强度和疲劳寿命。 虚拟设计环境(VDE)的可用性，即几乎完全在计算机上完成设计的能力，从而减少了对耗时和昂贵的测试的依赖，在缩短设计周期和与设计和认证复合材料结构相关的成本方面发挥了关键作用。除了降低成本，强大的VDE还提供了通过考虑新材料(纤维和树脂)、纤维结构、铺设和结构配置的可行性来扩大复合材料设计空间的可能性，否则这些材料太复杂，无法通过经验方法进行认证。 基于申请人和他的研究团队以前的经验，拟议研究的目的是通过在开放源码软件环境中将过程和结构模型集成到单一的、高效的、基于物理的计算工具来创建VDE，以评估制造的大型复合材料结构的完整性和耐久性。其目的是考虑复合材料结构在经历各种步骤时的全部历史，从制造到其作为承重结构的工作环境。 所取得的进展将构成一种新的设计方法的基础，在这种方法中，可以在设计中包括控制结构复合材料的过程和损伤行为的所有参数的影响。这一能力将显著减少实际试验的次数和与使用目前在复合材料结构设计中采用的经验安全系数相关的成本。

High performance carbon-fibre composites have increasingly become the material of choice for large commercial aircraft structures. Certification for airworthiness of these structures currently relies on numerous tests ranging from thousands of small scale coupon tests to a single full scale test. In between, numerous tests are conducted on elements, details and sub-structures to determine static strength and fatigue lives under complex loadings. The availability of a virtual design environment (VDE), i.e. the ability to complete designs almost entirely on the computer and thus reducing the reliance on time consuming and costly tests, plays a critical role in the reduction of design cycle times and costs associated with designing and certifying composite structures. Beyond cost reductions, a robust VDE offers the possibility of expanding the design space for composite materials by considering the viability of new materials (fibres and resins), fibre architectures, lay-ups and structural configurations that are otherwise far too complex to certify through empirical approaches. Building on the previous experience of the applicant and his research team, the aim of the proposed research is to create a VDE by integrating the process and structural models into a single, efficient, physics-based computational tool within an open source software environment to assess the integrity and endurance of as-manufactured, large scale composite structures. The aim is to take into account the full history of the composite structure as it goes through the various steps, from manufacturing all the way to its working environment as a load-bearing structure. The advancements made will form the basis of a new design methodology where the effects of all parameters that control both the process and damage behaviour of structural composites can be included in the design. This capability will significantly reduce the number of real tests and costs associated with the use of empirical safety factors that are currently adopted in the design of composite structures.