• Composites Research
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.18-28
• /
• 2004

In order to evaluate the strength of carbody structures of railway rolling stock made of laminated fiber-reinforced composite materials, total laminate approach was introduced. Structural analyses were conducted to check the basic design of hybrid composite carbody structures of the Korean Tilting Train eXpress(TTX) with the service speed of 180km/h. The mechanical tests were also conducted to obtain strengths of composite laminates. The results show that all stress components of composite carbody structures are inside of failure envelopes and total laminate approach is recommended to predict the failure of hybrid composite carbody structures at the stage of the basic design.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.50-61
• /
• 2007

The structural stiffness, strength and stability on the bodyshell and floor structures of the Korean Low Floor Bus composed of laminate, sandwich panels and metal reinforced frame were evaluated. The laminate composite panel and facesheet of sandwich panel were made of WR580/NF4000 glass fabric/epoxy laminate, while aluminum honeycomb or balsa was applied to the core materials of the sandwich panel. A finite element analysis was used to verify the basic design requirements of the bodyshell and the floor structure. The use of aluminum reinforced frame and honeycomb core was beneficial for weight saving and structural performance. The symmetry of the outer and inner facesheet thickness of sandwich panels did not affect the structural integrity. The structural strength of the panels was evaluated using Von-Mises criterion for metal structures and total laminate approach criterion for composite structures. All stress component of the bodyshell and floor structures were safely located below the failure stresses. The total laminate approach is recommended to predict the failure of hybrid sandwich composite structures at the stage of the basic design.