Computational micromechanics-based prediction of the failure of unidirectional composite lamina subjected to transverse and in-plane shear stress states

Abstract

This paper presents a micromechanics-based 3D finite element model for predicting the damage initiation, propagation, and failure strength of TC33/Epoxy carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) unidirectional lamina under biaxial loadings. The finite element model is generated by introducing representative volume element (RVE) with a random distribution of fibers and a non-zero thickness, numerically identified interface phase via cohesive elements. In the finite element model, the carbon fibers are considered as elastic, while the elasto-plastic behavior and damage of the matrix are governed by extended Drucker–Prager plastic yielding model and ductile damage criterion. By imposing periodic boundary conditions to the RVEs, various cases subjected to uniaxial and biaxial loading conditions are carried out. During the combined transverse and in-plane shear stress states, a failure transition from compression- or tension-dominated to shear-dominated is captured, and the effects of the interfacial strength on the transition damage mechanisms are discussed. The corresponding failure locus is compared with the upper bound and lower bound predictions of three phenomenological failure criteria (Hashin, Tasi–Wu, and Puck failure criteria) for composites. It was found that in the interface-dominated failure of a CFRP lamina with a weak interface, the Hashin failure criterion performs best among the currently popular failure criteria. However, in the matrix-dominated failure with a strong interface, the Puck failure criterion performs best. Comparing these three criteria, it can be seen the Tsai–Wu may be generally better than both of others as it presents more neutral predictions in both of the examined cases.

An ABAQUS® plug-in for generating virtual data required for inverse analysis of unidirectional composites using artificial neural networks

“…Fig. 1 The graphical user interface (GUI) of the plug-in components is desired, so the off-diagonal terms in the elasticity matrix are set to be zero and the stiffness in the two shear directions are assumed to be equal [1,33] The plug-in imposes Periodic Boundary Conditions (PBC) on the corresponding surfaces of the unit cell to ensure the compatibility of strain and stress at the macroscale level. These consist of a series of constraints in which the deformation of each pair of nodes on the opposite surfaces of the unit cell is subject to the same amount of displacements.…”

“…With the development of computing capacities, numerical methods, in particular the finite element method (FEM), have become widely used tools for studying the behaviour of composites, including inverse analysis [8,15,26], elastic moduli [27], failure of composite lamina [29,33,34], and the effective coefficients of thermal expansion [13]. Inverse analysis has been used to identify fibre mechanical properties and fibre thermal expansion coefficient, and evaluate the factors of analytical methods, and so on.…”

Stiffness Prediction and Analysis of Composite Leaf Springs

“…The physical meaning of strength ratio R is safety factor, and higher strength ratio corresponds to higher safety margin. The Tasi-Wu strength failure criterion, which is widely used in the field of composite materials [28]- [30], is selected to examine the strength of the composite leaf springs. The single-layer strength ratio of composite materials can be…”

Numerical Study on the Effect of Matrix Self-Heating on the Thermo-Visco-Plastic Response of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Polymers under Transverse Tensile Loading

“…They concluded that a model size containing 30 to 50 fibers is sufficient to represent the homogenized behavior. Sharma and Daggumati [ 7 ], Liu and Li [ 8 ], and Wan et al [ 9 ] investigated the initial failure location and damage evolution under transverse loading. The works of Yan and Ran [ 10 ], Asp et al [ 11 ], Hobbiebrunken et al [ 12 ], and Moraleda et al [ 13 ] investigate the effect of the strength of the interface on the damage evolution.…”