Development and Demonstration of a Novel Test Bench for the Experimental Validation of Fuselage Stiffened Panel Simulations

The subject of the present work is the development and implementation of a novel testing facility to carry out an experimental campaign on an advanced fuselage panel manufactured from both thermoplastic and metallic materials, as well as the validation of its numerical simulation. The experimental arrangement was specifically designed, assembled, and instrumented to have multi-axial loading capabilities. The investigated load cases comprised uniaxial in-plane compression, lateral distributed pressure, and their combination. The introduction of pressure was enabled by inflatable airbags, and compression was applied up to the onset of local skin buckling. Calibration of the load introduction and inspection equipment was performed in multiple steps to acquire accurate and representative measurements. Data were recorded by external sensors mounted on a hydraulic actuator and an optical Digital Image Correlation (DIC) system. A numerical simulation of the fuselage panel and the test rig was developed, and a validation study was conducted. In the Finite Element (FE) model, several of the experimental configuration’s supporting elements and their connections to the specimen were integrated as constraints and boundary conditions. Data procured from the tests were correlated to the simulation’s predictions, presenting low errors in most displacement/strain distributions. The results show that the proposed test rig concept is suitable for stiffened panel level testing and could be used for future studies on similar aeronautical components.