Experimental and numerical evaluation of fracture characteristics of composite material used in the aircraft engine cover manufacturing

The aircraft industry is a leading industry in terms of the implementation of new materials and technologies. In the development of a light aircraft several different materials were considered for the engine cover design and the final decision was to select a composite material. Part of the research performed on the cover design is presented in this paper. The composite test specimens were produced and mechanical properties were investigated in the tensile and three-point flexural tests according to the required standards. The comparison of experimentally and numerically obtained mechanical properties showed good agreement, which led to the design, verification and manufacturing of the complex-shaped engine cover without costly and demanding tests. It was considered that numerical simulations of the engine cover performance under different loading conditions yielded realistic results, therefore experimental verification was excluded. The flight tests proved the predicted behavior, thus verifying the design methodology presented in this paper.