Stress analysis of amphibian float compartment using finite element method

This paper will analyze the strength and mass comparison of the float compartment composite structure using e-glass and carbon fiber. Meanwhile, epoxy and Divinycell H were selected as resin and core material. The composite structure used a combination of solid laminate and sandwich. Since fiber thickness was different between e-glass and carbon fiber, it had to be adjusted by selecting the number of ply stacks to an almost similar thickness. There were three types of ply orientation such as [0/90]s, [±45/0/90]s, and [0/90/±45]s. The float compartment was modeled with the quad element in Abaqus finite element analysis software. The total mass of the float compartment with e-glass fiber was 7.58% heavier than carbon fiber. Based on failure indices and margin of safety using Tsai-Hill, the best type of ply orientation for e-glass fiber was [0/90/±45]s with a failure index of 0.1358 and margin of safety of 2.71. The best type of ply orientation for carbon fiber was [±45/0/90]s with a failure index of 0.0255 and a margin of safety of 6.27. Those results conclude that carbon fiber is superior in terms of strength and mass to e-glass fiber.