Organic Matrix Composites Process-to-Performance, Evaluation, Research and Analysis (OPPERA)

Reliable bonded composite structures have the potential to improve performance, reduce costs, and increase design flexibility in advanced aircraft systems. One promising robust solution is to use 3D woven textiles that are near-net-shape to connect stiffeners to wing skins. This architecture removes the delamination paths of other joint systems by including fiber tows that are integrally woven through the preform to bind the out-of-plane directions together. Manufacturing and processing variations lead to variability in resin content, residual stresses, and porosity defects, which ultimately influence the strength of the bonded structure. In addition, static and fatigue loading damage progression is not well understood in 3D textiles and there are no validated predictive models. An integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) framework is under development to predict the strength of the bonded structure by integrating models to predict (1) fiber bed compaction, (2) material properties, residual stresses, and porosity evolution during cure, (3) damage evolution at the mesoscale and macroscale, and (4) final part capability. This paper describes an overview of current tools and predictive capabilities.