A Hybrid Approach to Composite Failure Combining Synergistic Damage Mechanics and Peridynamics

Abstract

Synergistic damage mechanics (SDM) is combined in this work with peridynamics (PD) to create an efficient and powerful hybrid approach for modeling failure in composite materials. The damage descriptors generated in the SDM enter the PD approach for failure analysis. The evolution of damage in composite materials occurs in stages going from the early failure events that are precursors of ply cracks, to multiplication of the ply cracks, to delamination, and fiber failure. The early failure events are found to be sensitive to the manufacturing induced defects and are therefore analyzed in a statistical simulation framework that constructs representative volume elements (RVEs). Energy based criteria are employed to evaluate initiation of fibermatrix debonding within the RVE under thermal cooldown followed by mechanical loading. Then, the process of ply crack formation is analyzed by investigating the kink-out and linkage of the debond cracks. A new peridynamic model for composites utilizes the statistical information from the SDM approach to simulate the coalescence of damage and growth of macrocracks. Based on an idea first introduced to provide an intermediate step in the homogenization process of peridynamic models of porous materials, the model for composites can easily integrate manufacturing defects into the simulation of failure. Simulations of crack growth through full failure of a unidirectional laminate with various fiber orientations are shown and future steps are described.