Computational examination of the effect of voids on the mechanical response of composites with emphasize on the cure hardening behavior

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of voids on the mechanical response of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite with simple finite elements micromechanical analysis. Cure hardening behavior of resin is implemented into the model to calculate the cure shrinkage, coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) and residual stresses. It is seen that voids cause more detrimental decrease on longitudinal CTE than transverse direction. Tensile loading to void containing residual stress-induced models show that the increasing void content diminishes the initial failure stress in longitudinal direction. Also, the reduction in transverse tensile strength with increasing voids is consistent with experimental results.