Analysis of crush-damaged carbon-fiber-reinforced-polymer (CFRP) composites with optimization-assisted post-peak-stress modeling

Abstract

In the presented effort, layered CFRP composites samples with differing thicknesses and cross-sections are manufactured and crushed under quasi-static loading conditions. Simulation of the crushes are conducted using traditional continuum mechanics damage models. Parameters are proposed to represent the post peak-stress material behavior including the residual strengths of the fiber and matrix, as well the ultimate strain for deletion of composite elements. This paper presents a systematic approach to identify optimal values for these post peak-stress parameters based on a methodology incorporating CAE models and numerical optimization. An adaptive meta-model based global optimization strategy, with the objective of matching the force-time characteristics of multiple crush experiments simultaneously, has been established to quantify the values of the CFRP’s post peak-stress degradation and erosion material model parameters through calibration. Using two separate test configurations for optimization, a set of values for those parameters are determined. This parameter set is shown to successfully predict the response of additional test cases, including matching of force-displacement curves and crushing modes. The resulting composite crush simulations show a good quantitative as well as qualitative agreement between simulations and experiments to a degree that is difficult to be achieved solely with previous engineering practice.