modeling of the behavior of Composite Structures under Severe Stresses – SUCCESS+

Among the extreme loads to which composite structures such as ship hulls and sonar domes can be subjected, wave impact and underwater explosions are prominent. The complexity of the phenomena involved is their rapid dynamic nature, the localized overpressures they generate and the fluid / structure coupling effects they imply, during the shock phase and beyond. The structures concerned are rarely tested at sea or in basins and their dimensioning is increasingly dependent on the use of digital simulation tools.

Even if the maturity of these tools and their level of validation make it possible to consider that they serve as a reference, their implementation in a design office is hardly compatible with the cost and time constraints of projects, at least. in the pre-sizing phase. In addition, the objective of reducing safety coefficients (and therefore manufacturing costs) requires detailed knowledge of damage mechanisms, their modeling and their quantification, in order to correctly feed the digital models dedicated to design.

As a continuation of the SUCCESS project, this project aims to develop and validate an approximate sizing method for each type of loading, slamming and underwater explosion, taking into account the fluid / structure interactions, the directional behavior of composite materials and by facing advanced methods and testing. The "simplified" nature of these methods must allow their implementation in a design office, and this from the preliminary design phase. The specific work concerning the prediction of the type of damage generated in the composite structure aims to increase their potential, by accepting so-called degraded states compatible with the expected performance.