Swage panel Analyses: Effective Orthotropic and Laminated Plate Properties

Analytical expressions for the effective elastic properties of orthotropic, and laminated plates are presented for represented for representing swage panel subjected to extension and bending. A methodology is described for analyzing the swaged panels as effective, orthotropic flat plates. The equivalent rigidities of the laminated plating are established by matching the in-plane and flexural stiffness of the swage panel with those of the laminated plate. The required properties of the effective plating include the dependent Young’s modulii, shear modulus and Poisson’s ratios for each layer of a multi-layered elastic laminate. Three-ply and five-ply models are developed. This methodology allows for the use of well-known plate theory equations or assessing plate strength and stability. It also allows for the use of large-scale finite element modeling of the panels within conventional simulation packages such as those used for whole-ship structural modeling. The advantage in this analytical approach is to avoid the need for modeling the detailed, fine-scaled swage shell geometry in finite element analyses.