What is biaxial testing and its advantages?

Answer 1

Aircraft structures can be fabricated from fibre reinforced polymers such as carbon fibre/epoxy and glass polyester composites. They are normally loaded in more than one direction at once, that is, they are biaxially loaded. It has been recognized that limiting the evaluation of a material characteristic to uniaxial tests can lead to a misrepresentation of the behaviour of a material in an engineering structure. So, using more realistic loading during the test, i.e. introducing biaxial conditions, leads to a more accurate representation of the expected behaviour of the structure in-service, which could in turn lead to far wider use of composites. Advantages of Biaxial Loading: Biaxial Loading can be used to measure basic material properties and also the behaviour of specific features of interest under biaxial loading conditions. This would include open holes, holes containing fasteners, impact damage sites and loaded fasteners. This last type of test is made possible by the bolt loading facility. The use of biaxial testing represents a major step forward in understanding their properties and establishing a way forward to the next generation of advanced structures, leaving traditional 'black aluminium' designs in the past. Aircraft structures can be fabricated from fibre reinforced polymers such as carbon fibre/epoxy and glass polyester composites. They are normally loaded in more than one direction at once, that is, they are biaxially loaded. It has been recognized that limiting the evaluation of a material characteristic to uniaxial tests can lead to a misrepresentation of the behaviour of a material in an engineering structure. So, using more realistic loading during the test, i.e. introducing biaxial conditions, leads to a more accurate representation of the expected behaviour of the structure in-service, which could in turn lead to far wider use of composites. Advantages of Biaxial Loading: Biaxial Loading can be used to measure basic material properties and also the behaviour of specific features of interest under biaxial loading conditions. This would include open holes, holes containing fasteners, impact damage sites and loaded fasteners. This last type of test is made possible by the bolt loading facility. The use of biaxial testing represents a major step forward in understanding their properties and establishing a way forward to the next generation of advanced structures, leaving traditional 'black aluminium' designs in the past.