12 - A combined creep and fatigue prediction methodology for fiber-reinforced polymer composites based on the kinetic theory of fracture

Abstract

Due to the presence of different failure mechanisms in the constituents with different growth rates as well as interaction among these mechanisms, durability prediction of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites is a challenging problem. Prediction of creep and fatigue damage progression in FRP composites demands progressive damage analysis tools that can account for the physics of the constituents. In this chapter, a summary of physics-based, progressive failure modeling methodologies for long-term behavior prediction of FRP composites existing in the literature is presented first. Then, one such methodology based on the kinetic theory of fracture (KTF) is derived from the first principles that model the damage occurring in the ply and the delamination layer matrices due to fatigue and creep loading. Finite element (FE) implementations of the KTF-based methodology predicting durability of composites is presented next. Finally, results from the KTF-based methodology for creep and fatigue prediction of composites are presented and benchmarking with experimental data is performed. To conclude the chapter, a review of the literature on composite durability-related problems implementing KTF-based methodologies is provided.