Experimental investigation of composite-based compliant structures
Werner A. Hufenbach, Maik Gude, Frank Adam, Niels Modler, Thomas Heber, Ole Renner, Ivonne Körner, Daniel Weck
Quarterly No. 3, 2011 pages 187-191
DOI:
keywords: compliant structure, fibre-reinforced plastics, load transfer element
abstract Composite materials with their adjustable, high specific mechanical properties offer the possibility to realise load-adapted, locally functionalised lightweight structures. Here, compliant structures characterised by individually adaptable deformation behaviour are promising applications. Notwithstanding the substantial degree of function integration, competitive serial production of such components can be achieved by the use of composites based on thermoplastic matrix systems in close combination with efficient manufacturing technologies. This paper contributes to the development of composite compliant structures, specifically designed for use in bending dominated applications. The experimental studies including different fibrereinforcements make allowance for the composite adapted design of a beam structure and the associated load transfer elements. For this purpose, an adapted testing device was designed and installed, and various composite bending structures are compared. The experimental results show the suitability of fibre-reinforced composites with large elastic deformability for compliant structures. Different designs of the load transfer element were tested. Compared to the basic design, an increase of the load bearing capacity of the compliant structure by up to 100 % was achieved. This is facilitated by the aligned design of the composite beam and its associated load transfer elements.