Sizing Procedures for a Fibre Reinforced Plastic Box

Abstract

A fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) box is an important class of structural component employed as the bending, torsion, or bending-torsion load bearing member in the modern light- weight structures. This paper presents various steps involved in the design of such a box beginning with preliminary analysis and optimization to the final sizing. The box made up of carbon fibre composite is a typical numerical example of such FRP construction. Numerical results obtained from the static stress analysis, the panel buckling analysis and the structural optimization as used for this sizing exercise, are presented. It is believed that the complete procedure of analysis using finite element method and then sizing of any FRP box in a comprehensive way, is reported for the first time.