MECN5012/A – Composites Assessment 21 JUNE 2022

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS

Scope: The take home assessment will examine the following content of the MECN5012/A course:

Mechanics of Composite Materials: Materials; Manufacturing Methods; Micromechanics;

Macromechanics of a Lamina;

Format of the assessment:

The take home assessment consists of 3 parts, worth a total of 50 marks and contributes 40% towards
the course mark. This assessment is designed to be answered sequentially and can be written off-line
and then submitted online.

Special Instructions:
• The assessment is open-book and open-internet.

Assessment submission instructions: These instructions must be followed:

1. Students must write the following details on the top right side of each piece of paper submitted. A
5% penalty will be applied to each assessment part for every transgression.

a. Part number
b. Page number
c. Student number

2. Create a single pdf of your answer sheet/s

3. Submit the pdf using the assignment tool before the end of the submission time.

4. On‐line submission on MECN5012A Ulwazi Website.

5. Electronic format (*.pdf).

6. Name the file according to your student number and surname (ex: 181215_Skywalker.pdf).

IMPORTANT: Files not meeting these requirements will not be assessed!

Submission deadline: Friday, 24th of June 2022 at 08h00 a.m.

During the assessment:

The lecturer will be always available on email during the period of the assessment. Any problem that is
experienced must be reported to the lecturer by email to allow enough time to be addressed. If any
problem with the assessment is reported that needs correction or explanation, the appropriate
information will be emailed to the affected students. Please monitor your email in case some important
information needs to be sent to you during the assessment.
MECN5012/A – Composites Assessment 21 JUNE 2022

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS

Important notes regarding submission:

1. Late submissions will NOT be accepted.
2. If there is any problem experienced in uploading your work, it must be reported before the end of the
submission time. Upload issues must be reported with:
• An email reporting the issue as soon as it occurs to Yusuf.suder@wits.ac.za, and.
• A PC/device screen shot clearly indicating the time of the issue and showing evidence of the
uploading issue,

Honour pledge:
Every student has agreed to the following pledge:

I hereby promise that all submitted assessments are entirely my own, unaided work. I promise not to
consult with anybody else, including other students or websites offering help. I promise not to provide
or receive any unauthorised help on any assessment.

I acknowledge that if I am found to have cheated in any way or plagiarised other people’s work, I
will be subject to disciplinary action, which may lead to suspension or expulsion.

The school takes cheating very seriously.

 MECN5012/A – Composites Assessment 21 JUNE 2022

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS

PART 1 OF 3

For educational purposes, a T300 carbon-fibre/epoxy unidirectional lamina has been produced in a composites
laboratory using resin hand lay-up and vacuum-bagging.
According to the suppliers’ data sheets, the fibres and resin have the following properties:

Carbon Fibre Epoxy Resin

ρf = 1.75 g/cm3 ρm = 1.25 g/cm3
E1f = 230 GPa Em= 3.2 GPa
E2f = 10 GPa ν m = 0.38
G12f = 4.3 GPa
ν12f = 0.27

To check the quality of the obtained lamina, a chemical digestion test (ASTM D3171) was performed. The mass
prior to the test is found to be 250 g, and the mass after the chemical digestion test is 170 g.

Answer the following questions, showing your calculations.

Question 1
Determine the fibre volume fraction.
(2 Marks)
Question 2
Determine the theoretical lamina density.
(3 Mark)
Question 3
Calculate the modulus of elasticity of the lamina in the direction of the fibre.
(3 Mark)
Question 4
Calculate the modulus of elasticity of the lamina transverse to the fibre.
(3 Marks)
Question 5
Calculate the shear modulus of the lamina in the plane of the lamina.
(3 Marks)
Question 6
Calculate the major Poisson’s ratio of the lamina.
(3 Mark)

(Sub-Total: 17 Marks)
 MECN5012/A – Composites Assessment 21 JUNE 2022

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS

PART 2 OF 3

This Part 2 is a continuation of Part 1.

For all questions of this Part 2 you must assume, which may or may not be correct, that the properties of the
previous T300 carbon-fibre/epoxy unidirectional lamina, produced for educational purposes using resin hand
lay-up and vacuum-bagging, are the following:

Carbon Fibre Epoxy Resin Lamina

ρf = 1.75 g/cm3 ρm = 1.25 g/cm3 Vf = 0.63
E1f = 230 GPa Em= 3.2 GPa ρc = 1.565 g/cm3
E2f = 10 GPa Gm= 1.16 GPa E1c = 146.1 GPa
G12f = 4.3 GPa ν m = 0.38 E2c = 5.6 GPa
ν12f = 0.27 G12c = 2.15 GPa
ν12c = 0.31

Answer the following questions, showing your calculations.

Question 7
If the declared fibre strain to failure ε*f is 1.2·10-2 and the matrix strain to failure ε*m is 1.8·10-2, what is the
expected longitudinal tensile strength of the lamina? Motivate your answer.
(3 Marks)
Question 8
If the lamina is subject to a longitudinal stress of 300 MPa, what is the expected stress in the fibres?
(4 Marks)
Question 9
An ultrasound non-destructive test showed the presence of voids in the cured lamina. If a tensile test showed a
longitudinal Young’s Modulus of 138.8 GPa, what is the void volume fraction introduced with the current
manufacturing process?
(3 Marks)
Question 10
After the manufacturing process has been tuned, a new lamina is produced without voids.

Calculate the value of the term ( )𝟏𝟏 of the expected reduced constitutive matrix.
(4 Marks)

PART 2 CONTINUES OVERLEAF

 MECN5012/A – Composites Assessment 21 JUNE 2022

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS

Question 11

Now a laminate is produced using 4 plies of the manufactured lamina, each 0.25 mm thick, using the following
arrangement:

90
0
0
90

Which terms of the following matrix will be absent for this laminate? Motivate your answer.

 Nx    x 
0

N     0 
 y    y
 N xy     xx0 
 =  
M
 x   x 
My     y 
     
 M xy     xy 

(5 Marks)

(Sub-Total: 19 Marks)
 MECN5012/A – Composites Assessment 21 JUNE 2022

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS

PART 3 OF 3
Question 12

You need to design the manufacturing process for a customised street motorbike belly pan, see Fig. 2, using a
FRP composite solution (N.B. picture in Fig. 1 is for component representative purposes only).

Outline, for your proposed design, the following aspects:

a) Selection of fibres type/s. Motivate you answer.

(2 Mark)

b) Selection of resin system/s. Motivate you answer.

(2 Mark)

c) Proposed type of manufacturing process and corresponding selection of commercial form/s of fibre.
Motivate you answer.
(3 Marks)

Figure 1

PART 3 CONTINUES OVERLEAF

 MECN5012/A – Composites Assessment 21 JUNE 2022

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS

Question 13

You need to design the manufacturing process for the main body of an American football helmet, see Fig. 2,
using a FRP composite solution (N.B. picture in Fig. 2 is for component representative purposes only).
Outline, for your proposed design, the following aspects:

a) Selection of fibres type/s. Motivate you answer.

(2 Mark)

b) Selection of resin system/s. Motivate you answer.

(2 Mark)

c) Proposed type of manufacturing process and corresponding selection of commercial form/s of fibre.
Motivate you answer.
(3 Marks)

Figure 2

(Sub-Total: 14 Marks)

[TOTAL: 50 MARKS]

END