Comparison of numerical and experimental strain distributions in composite panel for aerospace applications

In structural applications of the aerospace industry, weight efficiency, understood as minimal weight and maximal stiffness, is of great importance. This criterion can be achieved by composite lightweight structures. Typical structures for the aforementioned applications are sandwich panels (e.g. with honeycomb core) and stiffened panels (e.g. with blade ribs, T-bar ribs, or hat ribs) [1-3]. In the paper, hat-stiffened panel, made of carbon/epoxy woven composite, is considered. Results of experiments, consisting of loading the panel and measuring exciting forces and strains (using strain gages), are presented. The results are compared to strains distribution obtained from finite element model of the panel. An idea of real-time system for load monitoring of the structure, using artificial intelligence techniques [4], is also presented. An high fidelity digital model with a big compliance of the computed and measured strain distributions is crucial for the performance of such a cyber-physical system.