Elastic-damage deformation response of fiber-reinforced polymer composite laminates with lamina interfaces

Abstract

The single-layer and multi-layer finite element models are developed and examined for adequacy in predicting the elastic-damage response of fiber-reinforced polymer composite laminates. A new experimental-computational approach featuring a two-tier mesh convergence analysis of the finite element models is developed. A 12-ply carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite laminate beam specimen with anti-symmetric layups is designed and loaded to induce matrix damage under significant deflection without catastrophic fracture. A constitutive model incorporating Hashin’s equations for damage initiation criteria, along with an energy-based damage propagation law is employed in the finite element simulation. The results shows that the multi-layer finite element model predicts well the load–deflection curve of the carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite laminate, while the single-layer model overestimates the elastic flexural stiffness of the specimen by 47 %. During the flexural deformation, matrix damage initiates in the central and edge regions of the critical laminas under compressive and tensile stresses, respectively. The multi-layer finite element model also predicted the matrix-induced interface delamination along the edges of the critical laminas under tension, as observed experimentally. The model demonstrates the adequacy in representing the role of lamina interface in dictating the elastic-damage response of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite laminates manufactured by prepreg layups method.

An Energy-Based Concept for Yielding of Multidirectional FRP Composite Structures Using a Mesoscale Lamina Damage Model

“…Cherniaev et al used a three-damage-based constitutive model to simulate the crushing response of composite tube, considering bilinear softening for fiber damage, matrix damage with linear softening, and hardening-softening due to shear damage [35]. R. Koloor et al developed a mesoscale damage evolution model for angle lamina incorporating Hashin failure criteria [24] and an energy-based damage model [10] for the prediction of the damage and post-damage initiations, as well as the subsequent softening process [10,[43][44][45].…”

“…In MD FRP composite laminates, matrix yielding/cracking and interface delamination are observed as the early damage mechanisms due to very low stiffness/strength properties of the matrix and interface (10%-20%) compared to the fiber properties level [10,[47][48][49][50]. In addition, the variation of through-thickness lamina orientations in an MD composite facilitates matrix failure and multi-delamination events at the early stage of the loading [10,43,45,51]. In some cases, the MD FRP composite structure was able to sustain up to 10-fold higher loading above the level corresponding to the onset of matrix and interface damages [10,43,45].…”

“…In addition, the variation of through-thickness lamina orientations in an MD composite facilitates matrix failure and multi-delamination events at the early stage of the loading [10,43,45,51]. In some cases, the MD FRP composite structure was able to sustain up to 10-fold higher loading above the level corresponding to the onset of matrix and interface damages [10,43,45]. Accordingly, considering the UD lamina level yield criteria to estimate the failure of an MD composite structure normally results in the prediction of structural failure at 5%-10% maximum load capacity of the structure [2,10,43,44,52], which prevents the optimum design of light composite structures.…”

“…Accordingly, considering the UD lamina level yield criteria to estimate the failure of an MD composite structure normally results in the prediction of structural failure at 5%-10% maximum load capacity of the structure [2,10,43,44,52], which prevents the optimum design of light composite structures. Therefore, material and loading-related parameters should be developed to provide a consistent identification of the yield point for the MD FRP composite structures [2,5,10,[43][44][45].…”

Experimental–numerical study on minimizing impact induced damage in laminated composites under low-velocity impact

“…However, different damage mechanisms such as: matrix cracking, fiber breakage and fiber/matrix debonding affect load bearing capacities and operational life of these materials [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Hence, it is very important to investigate composite materials behavior and corresponding failure modes under various loading conditions.…”