Start Your Conference Experience on the Right Note
By providing valuable and useful information on an assortment of topics, SAMPE 2020 Tutorials are highly rated courses designed for both technical and non-technical staff. Tutorial sessions take place Monday, May 4. For tutorial rates, please visit our registration page.
Monday, May 4 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Analysis & Sizing of Composite Airframe Structures
James Ainsworth | Collier Research Corp. (Hypersizer)
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This tutorial will review analysis techniques, tools and methods for analyzing composite laminates, honeycomb sandwich and stiffened composite structures. The presentation is focused on analytical, closed-form approaches for analyzing composite structures that are consistent with traditional aerospace methods used for commercial aircraft certification. These traditional aerospace analyses must be performed with stress tools, outside of finite element analysis codes, to write stress margins-of-safety to be included in certification reports. In the tutorial, the typical stress analysis work flow process will be reviewed and automated analysis tools will be introduced and discussed when appropriate. Learn more.

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Sandwich Constructions and Their Applications in Transportation
Dr. Halvar Loken, Yannick Albertone, Dr. Mikhail Levit | Dupont
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Basic principles of sandwich construction including design, history and current status in transportation will be reviewed in this tutorial. Applications of sandwich structures in aerospace, trains, marine, and automotive will be addressed. Discussion will center on tradeoffs between core materials (multiple honeycomb materials, foams and balsa) and widely used fiber reinforced composite and metallic face sheets. Some key lessons learned will be discussed:
Newly developed fracture toughness test for sandwich constructions and its application in the design of exterior parts of aircrafts;
Prevention of water ingression in honeycomb cored sandwich structures. Learn more.


Ablative Materials Technology for Thermal Protection and Propulsion Systems
Dr. Maurizio Natali, Dr. Luigi Torre | University of Perugia
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This tutorial will cover the main areas related to the science and technology of ablative materials; after a quick overview on the space access and economy, 50 years of research efforts on polymeric ablatives will be summarized also keeping into account the most recent research efforts. Moreover, this tutorial will provide to the participant the basic concepts and tools behind the design, the production and the testing of ablative materials, from the lab-scale to the full validation. At the end of this course the attendee will be able to fully grasp the importance of TPS materials in aerospace industry and he will also be able to understand the differences among the classes of ablative materials and to identify the best formulation for a given application. Learn more.
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Nondestructive Inspection & Evaluation for Composites and Bonded Structures Primer
Lou Dorworth | Abaris Training Resources, Inc.
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This tutorial will provide an overview of the various NDI/NDE methods and techniques commonly used in advanced composite manufacturing and repair trades. Designed as an intermediate level presentation, for both the novice to the practiced, this seminar will provide a fundamental understanding of available technologies to anyone that may be interested in learning more about NDI/NDE of composites, the related equipment, and specific application of individual and combined methods for inspecting/evaluating composite laminates and bonded assemblies. Learn more.

High Performance Thermoplastic Composites: Materials, Processing & Applications
Dr. David Leach | ATC Manufacturing
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This tutorial will focus on high performance thermoplastic composite materials in aerospace, ground transport, energy and high-performance industrial applications. Areas covered in the tutorial include: Polymers: amorphous vs crystalline polymers. PEI, PPS, PEEK, PEKK, PAEK; Reinforcements: continuous and long discontinuous fibers; Product forms including prepregs, laminates, sheet, flake; Properties and performance; Processing & Fabrication; Aerospace, Energy and high-performance industrial applications.
The tutorial will be of interest to those with a working knowledge of composite materials, prepregs and polymers looking for a more in depth understanding of thermoplastic composite materials, properties and processing. Learn more.
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Introduction to Automated Fiber Placement
Dr. Ramy Harik | University of South Carolina
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This tutorial introduces the fundaments of AFP and discusses the complete AFP cycle from concept to manufacturing and inspection. Topics to be covered:
AFP Basics: Basics and fundamentals of AFP namely the process parameters (temperature, pressure, tension, speed) and their influence; Materials: Material systems such as thermoset, thermoplastics, dry fiber and thin plies; Process Planning: Process Planning functions for both process and toolpath optimization
Manufacturing: Manufacturing flowchart and the best practice to undergo an AFP project; Quality Metrics: AFP Defects with 3D printed models of what they look like, and their influence on the integrity of the structure; Inspection methods and techniques used currently in the world of AFP, as well as future techniques. Learn more.