Stress properties optimization of a Composite Sandwich Structure by Application of Hybrid Taguchi-GRA-PCA

Abstract

A sandwich structure is always designed to have maximum Strength and Stiffness. In this research, three main design factors i.e. facesheet thickness, core height and panel with each having three different values (levels) have been chosen and a L9 Orthogonal Array has been generated using Taguchi Design in Minitab software. The Sheet Stresses and Shear Stresses have been calculated for all 9 configurations. From Taguchi Analysis it has been observed that the optimum level for different design parameters are F/S thickness .8mm, Core Height 8mm and Panel Width 50mm.Then PCA assisted GRA has been performed on the two responses and it has been observed that the optimum parameter level are F/S thickness .8mm, Core Height 8mm and Panel Width 50mm. ANOVA analysis has also been performed to find out the effect of selected design elements on the two types of stress values of the sandwich panel. It has been observed that the Facesheet Thickness has the maximum effect on Sandwich Stresses.