Numerical and experimental study on mechanical strength of internally pressurized laminated woven composite shells incorporated with surface-bounded sensors

In this study, strain deformation of three types of internally pressurized laminated composite shells (hemispherical, ellipsoidal, and torispherical) with two types of woven roving (WR) stacking sequence (WR [0]6 and WR [0/45]3) was studied numerically and experimentally. The regions at which the critical strain occurs were determined by using finite element analysis (FEA). Careful experimental study was carried out for results validation. Vacuum infusion process (VIP) was employed for the composite shell fabrication. The surface-bounded sensors were used to measure strain values occurring at the outermost ply. In general, a good agreement between strain variation rates derived by the two approaches was observed. However, some discrepancy was observed for strain magnitude, particularly the ones close to the boundary. The possible reasons behind this were then discussed. Furthermore, the effect of staking sequence and geometrical shape on the mechanical strength of laminated woven composite shells was investigated and critical mechanical factors were accounted for. Laminated composite shells with WR [0/45]3 were found to be the preferred choice over WR [0]6. Laminated hemispherical shells were also found to be the preferred choice against mechanical failure while laminated tosipherical shells were found to be the least choice.