Buckling and Postbuckling Analysis Method of Stretchable and Flexible Sensor Networks Based on ABAQUS

Aircraft smart skin technology requires the integration of large-scale and lightweight sensor networks in aircraft structures. To meet these requirements, the design of island-bridge structure is adopted, so that the sensor network can be manufactured in a limited scale and expanded in a large scale. Theoretical analysis, finite element simulation and experimental verification have been carried out on the mechanical properties of island-bridge structures. However, theoretical analysis is difficult to analyze irregular shaped structures, and the existing simulation researches mainly focus on the island-bridge structures with one unit and lack the analysis of networks. In this work, the finite element simulation method of island-bridge structure networks based on ABAQUS has been proposed, which includes buckling mode analysis and postbuckling deformation analysis. The initial buckling deformation state of the structure is extracted by the buckling mode analysis, and the postbuckling deformation state of the structure can be obtained by the postbuckling deformation analysis. The simulation method is applied on the analysis of the mechanical properties and deformation patterns of different island-bridge structure networks, including serpentine, fractal and irregular island-bridge structure networks. This shows that the proposed simulation method can well guide the design of stretchable sensor networks.