Experimental study on compressive behavior of I-stiffened CFRP panel using fringe projection profilometry

Digital fringe projection profilometry (FPP) was used to study the mechanical behavior and failure mode of an I-shaped stiffened panel of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites subjected to axial compression. The fabrication process of the I-type stiffened CFRP panel is described in this paper. A special fixture was designed and fabricated to apply a compressive load to the CFRP panel. Furthermore, strain gauges and the FPP technique were used to monitor the failure process of the panel when compressed. Strain measurement results revealed that a bifurcation phenomenon appeared on the panel surface. Moreover, full-field deflection results indicate that local skin buckling occurs on the stiffened CFRP panel, which can be used to explain the strain bifurcation. Results from the experiment show that the design and fabrication process of the stiffened panel is reasonable and can be used to study the failure mechanism of stiffened CFRP panel.