Shear stresses in honeycomb sandwich plates: Analytical solution, finite element method and experimental verification

in Journal of Sandwich Structures & Materials (2012), 4

Honeycomb composite structures are used in airplanes, railway cars and vehicles. The sandwich panels consist of two stiff face sheets of aluminium, which are bonded to a very lightweight honeycomb core of ... [more ▼]

Honeycomb composite structures are used in airplanes, railway cars and vehicles. The sandwich panels consist of two stiff face sheets of aluminium, which are bonded to a very lightweight honeycomb core of aluminium. Compared to normal plates, sandwich panels have a very high stiffness and simultaneously a low weight. The core of these structures is mainly subjected to shear stresses. The shear stresses depend strongly on the angle of the load application. The distribution and the level of the shear stresses are investigated using analytical calculations. The load direction which induces highest stresses in the honeycomb core is derived. This direction is not the W-direction, which is the most compliant one. When doing finite element simulations of honeycomb cores, often the core is homogenized in order to reduce the calculation time. In this article, some equations are derived in order to calculate the real shear stresses from the shear stresses of the homogeneous core. The equations are validated by finite element simulations and partially by tests. Three-point bending tests and additionally some Food Cart Roller Tests were conducted in order to test the panels in different angles. [less ▲]

Integrative analysis of the energy flow in a steel plant and a comprehensive approach to increase the energy efficiency

in Proceedings METEC InSteelCON 2011, Düsseldorf Germany, CCD Congress Center, Düsseldorf, 27.06-01.07. (2011, July)

Steel industry is a highly intensive energy consumer. The energy used by the studied electric steelmaking plant could supply 25,000 households with thermal energy and 100,000 households with electrical ... [more ▼]

Steel industry is a highly intensive energy consumer. The energy used by the studied electric steelmaking plant could supply 25,000 households with thermal energy and 100,000 households with electrical energy. Increasing the energy efficiency of a steel plant will not only have impact in the reduction of greenhouse emissions but also in an increase of the competitiveness of the plant. A Luxembourgish steel plant is studied in detail and several options for energy savings are identified. Promising energy efficiency gains can be achieved by the optimization of the electric arc furnace and the reheating furnaces and by the improvement of the logistics between the continuous casting and the reheating furnace. The possibilities of energy recovery for heating purposes and for the generation of electricity with ORC- (Organic Rankine Cycle) or KALINAtechnologies are studied. In addition there is the opportunity to deliver hot water to a near district-heating system using otherwise lost energy and creating regional synergies. Nevertheless there is a need to develop a comprehensive and integrative approach to find a good overall solution instead of treating each step separately. The University of Luxembourg in collaboration with a Luxembourgish steel plant is developing a methodology to assess the technical, economical and environmental aspects of each solution. The objective is to assist in the decision-making in the company’s energy efficiency strategy and to perform a comparative analysis of the different solutions in order to propose an optimized plant, based on its feasibility due to local restrictions and different energy price scenarios. This ideal plant will be composed of individual elements, which proved their effectiveness in different real plants, so that the approach stays applied [less ▲]

Fatigue in Aluminium Honeycomb-core Plates

in Benchmark: The International Magazine for Engineering Designers & Analysts (2011), (January), 26-32

Honeycomb composite lightweight structures made of aluminium or aramid fibres are used in airplanes, railway carriages and automobiles. These structures are subjected to dynamic loading but hardly any ... [more ▼]

Honeycomb composite lightweight structures made of aluminium or aramid fibres are used in airplanes, railway carriages and automobiles. These structures are subjected to dynamic loading but hardly any fatigue properties of the honeycomb core exist in current literature. Hence here a theoretical and experimental approach is presented. [less ▲]

Detection and localization of damage in civil engineering structures by using static and dynamic assessment methods

in CD-Proceedings, Paper ID: 358 (2011)

Comparison of linear and nonlinear static and dynamic behaviour of prestressed and non-prestressed concrete slab elements

in Proceedings of the International Conference of Noise and Vibration Engineering (2010)

Dynamische Zustandsbewertung einer Verbunsbrücke: Beobachtung äußerer und nichtlinearer Einflüsse auf die modalen Eigenschaften

in Beton- und Stahlbetonbau (2010)

Dynamic simulations to develop a natural ventilation concept for an office building

in 8th International Conference on System Simulation in Buildings (2010)

The Sustainability Group of the University of Luxembourg defined for their new buildings a maximum thermal end-energy of 14 kWh/(m3a) and an electricity consumption for HVAC and lighting below 6 kWh/(m3a ... [more ▼]

The Sustainability Group of the University of Luxembourg defined for their new buildings a maximum thermal end-energy of 14 kWh/(m3a) and an electricity consumption for HVAC and lighting below 6 kWh/(m3a). Therefore it was necessary to avoid active cooling loads and mechanical ventilation in the offices and small lecture rooms. The well insulated and air-tight façade, including special outside shading elements which were designed as a grid over the complete building envelope, was an essential given architectural element of the building. Therefore further external shading devices were not applicable. The only possibility to have an influence on solar gains was to optimize the window size, the glazing type and potentially an internal shading device. Furthermore, to prevent the risk of overheating during the summer period, it was necessary to reduce the internal gains from lighting and IT-equipment. Hence detailed dynamic simulations using TRNSYS and TRNFLOW were done to evaluate the thermal comfort without air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation. The effects of optimizations like a state-of-the-art lighting control system or a window-based night ventilation, as well as the influence of the effective thermal inertia of the building were analyzed. The assumed natural ventilation rates were calculated by combining TRNFLOW and TRNSYS simulations and by the software LESOCOOL. [less ▲]

Entwicklung von hybriden Wärmedämmsteinen aus LAC

in Mauerwerk (2010), 14(1), 10-18

Comparison of static behaviour and nonlinear vibration characteristic of gradually damaged prestressed concrete slabs and reinforced concrete beams

in Proceedings of the International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures (2009)

Non-destructive damage assessment of constructions in civil engineering using non-linear vibration characteristics.

in Concrete 21st Century Superhero (2009)