High-Fidelity Residual Strength and Life Prediction Tool for Adhesively Bonded Composite Structures

Global Engineering and Materials, Inc. (GEM) along with its team member National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University will further extend, enhance, and validate CB2ATA (Composite Bolted and Bonded Analysis Toolkit for Abaqus) using Triton wing section. A combined numerical and experimental study will be performed to determine the effects of initial defects and their evolution under static and fatigue loading. Multiple capability extensions of CB2ATA for bonded structures will be conducted including implementation of a crack band model for energy driven damage progression in uni-directional and woven fabric composites, implementation of a fatigue damage accumulation model for woven fabric composites, and development of a multiscale damage modeling approach for characterization of the effects of defects at micro-level. After maturation of the toolkit, customized Abaqus analysis models without and with initial defects will be developed for a selected Triton wing section using enhanced user-defined materials and element modules. Our team member, NIAR, will design a testing rig along with its instrumentation for the full-scale static and fatigue tests of the Triton wing section. Using the load application models provided by NIAR, GEM will perform static and fatigue damage predictions and demonstrate the applicability and capability of CB2ATA.