Effect of pre-existing microstructural defects on elastic and fracture properties of composites

Conference paper (2017)

Authors

S. Anusuya Ponnusami University of Oxford, Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics - Aerospace Engineering
Mehtab V. Pathan Imperial College London, University of Oxford
Borja Erice University of Oxford
Nik Petrinic University of Oxford
Research Group
Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics (Aerospace Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2017 S.A. Ponnusami, Mehtab V. Pathan, Borja Erice, Nik Petrinic
Pores Fiber-reinforced composites Elastic Cohesive elements Fracture properties Interface cracks Microstructural defects
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

01-01-2017

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Department

Aerospace Structures & Materials

Research Group

Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics

Abstract

The objective of this research is to explore the effect of microstructural defects on the mechanical properties of fiber reinforced composites. In particular, two kinds of defects are considered in the study, namely, matrix pores and interface precracks. Three-dimensional (3-D) finite element analyses are conducted on Representative Volume Elements (RVE) to predict the effective elastic properties of the transversely isotropic unidirectional composite with a random distribution of the pore defects and the results are reported. With regards to fracture properties, cohesive zone-based two-dimensional (2-D) finite elements are employed to simulate fracture in the microstructure, where the cohesive elements are embedded throughout the FE mesh to simulate arbitrary crack initiation and propagation. The results of the simulations are reported in terms of the fracture pattern and quantified using the effective stress-strain response for various volume and area fractions of matrix pores and interface cracks respectively. It is shown that the presence of defects has a noticeable influence on the elastic properties, but severely influences the fracture properties of the composite.

Files

4145.pdf
(.pdf | 1.24 Mb)