Decomposing composite material structures Practical modelling issues for the large-scale fire tests

Purpose – This paper aims to deal with numerical modelling of composite panels of naval industry exposed to fire. Finite element (FE) analyses have been used to study the thermomechanical behaviour of structures. This paper focuses more particularly on assumptions used to model and evaluate design performance of sandwich panels made of E-Glass vinyl ester and balsawood cored submitted to a certification fire test. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology consisted of having an advanced understanding of phenomena occurring in both thermal and mechanical behaviours when large structures are degraded under thermal solicitation. Then, properties measuring methods were explored and studied in relation with the size of the structure they are used to describe. Finally, several modelling strategies were compared and applied to large-size panels under ISO 834 fire conditions. Findings – Research studies and comparisons showed that for these types of material and these types of structure, non-linear thermomechanical behaviour can be performed with a so-called “reduced” thermal model, provided that properties are measured in an appropriate way. “Reduced” model was compared with “full” model, and results were close to experimental measures. A mechanical properties’ review allowed selecting only necessary material FE analysis of large panels under ISO 834 fire. Originality/value – The research was conducted on real-size structures taking into account the real conditions in which structures are tested when passing certification. Work was carried out on reducing numerical model size without neglecting phenomenon or losing accuracy. © Emerald Publishing Limited.