Design & Tooling
Single-fastener, double-shear laminate bearing strength by tensile testing
Dr. Don Adams (Wyoming Test Fixtures Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah) discusses a laminate bearing strength test using double-shear loading of a single fastener.
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Compression after impact testing
During the late 1960s and most of the 1970s, the composites industry was absorbing the impact of what was then the recent introduction of carbon fiber. The resulting composites exhibited both high strength-to-weight and high stiffness-to-weight ratios. And while it was known that composites reinforced with this new
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The modified D695 compression test method
Dr. Don Adams discusses the evolution of the ASTM D 695 compression test method, the predecessor of the D 6641 method now in wide use.
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Composites test method globalization and harmonization
In my previous column, I discussed the need for standardization of test methods and the progress that has been made in recent years (see “Related Content,” at left). However, we know from that column, and many preceding it, that when we attempt to determine material properties, there is often more than one
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Why standardize composites test protocols?
Every column I write for HPC eventually refers to “standard” test methods. But why are standards written? What groups promote these standards, and who actually writes them? Most importantly, why do the rest of us need to follow their standards, and what if we don’t? To answer the first question, we must step back into
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FEA Roundup: Design, Simulation And Analysis Converge
New modeling and analysis software products increase the accessibility and reliability of finite element analysis data.
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Testing Tech: Adhesion testing of sandwich panels
In my three preceding columns, I discussed the testing of sandwich panels as unit structures. This included flexural and shear testing of beams and panels. However, such tests — and hardware components that are designed accordingly — will not produce the desired results unless the adhesives that hold these panels
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Testing Tech: Shear testing of sandwich panel core materials
In my previous column (HPC November 2006, p. 10), I noted that the shear strength and shear stiffness of the core material in a sandwich panel can be determined in situ while performing flexural tests to evaluate other sandwich panel properties. However, as was stated then, it is more accurate to measure these
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Sandwich panel flexure testing
Dr. Donald F. Adams (Wyoming Test Fixtures (Salt Lake City, Utah) comments on the composite materials testing community's move toward the use of the terms "long beam flexure" and "short beam flexure" when addressing sandwich panel testing.
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Sandwich panel test methods
This column will introduce sandwich panel test methods in general. Detailed discussions of the individual test methods will be presented in future columns. Sandwich panels will be defined here as those consisting of relatively thin facesheets that are strong and stiff in tension and compression compared to the low
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