Post-Buckling Test Simulation of a Stiffened Composite Panel

This paper presents some numerical results obtained at the Israel Institute of Technology, Technion, Israel, and at Politécnico di Milano, Italy, on a curved stringerstiffened panel made of graphite-epoxy. Numerical analyses were performed using three commercial finite element codes: ABAQUS/Standard, ABAQUS/Explicit and NASTRAN. Predictions made with eigenvalues, non-linear static and non-linear explicit dynamic analyses are, at first, compared each other and then with the experimental results obtained from tests carried out at Technion. The effect of the geometrical imperfections on numerical simulations is also considered by introducing the experimentally measured imperfections into the finite element model. Results show the reliability to capture the post-buckling behavior of the stiffened composite structures using both static and dynamic analyses.