Chapter 31 - Small damage in composite materials

Abstract

In this chapter the new concept of small damage is examined within the framework of continuum damage mechanics. In particular, special emphasis is given to the damage variable that is defined in terms of the elastic stiffness of the material. Only the scalar case is studied in this chapter. The scalar definition of the new damage variable was used recently by many researchers. The investigation of the new scalar damage variable and the new concept of small damage is carried out on fiber-reinforced composite materials. The material presented in this chapter is based on the work of Voyiadjis and Kattan (2010).