Minimization of stress concentration in a rectangular composite plate with a hole

Mechanical Engineering

Holes, notches, cutouts etc. are common in various machine members. But such irregularities often lead to stress concentration near the irregularity due to which the stress near the irregularity is higher than the average stress in the whole member. This stress concentration can be reduced by the use of suitable composites. In this study, a rectangular composite plate with circular hole at center is analyzed by using three dimensional finite element analysis (ANSYS APDL). The plate is made up of carbon/epoxy reinforced aluminium composite. The plate is subjected to tensile loading and the equivalent stresses are studied. Further stress mitigation is carried out by introduction of auxiliary holes in the plate. The results indicate that the composite materials exhibit improved physical and mechanical properties, such as, high ultimate tensile strength, minimal stress concentration and effective stress distribution. Being extremely lighter than the isotropic Aluminium plate, the aluminium composites efficiently used for applications in the automobile industry, for instance, in making car disc brake rotors.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.