Computer Simulation of Fracture Process in Compressive Failure of Cross-Ply Laminate of Composite Materials

Abstract

This study investigates the computer simulation of fracture process in compressive failure of cross-ply laminate of composite materials. The purpose of this study is to establish the numerical analysis method to understand the fracture mechanism and predict the mechanical response of composite materials through the computer simulation. The stacking sequence of the simulated laminate is [0/90] s. The reinforcement fibers in 0-degree plies are modeled by circle cross-section beam elements to represent the three-dimensional effect in bending of fibers. Cohesive elements are inserted in the connection of beam elements to simulate the bending breaking of fibers. For the purpose of parallel computing, the domain decomposition method is applied, and for pre-conditioned conjugate gradient algorithm, incomplete Cholesky conjugate gradient method is applied. The simulated results show that in the initial state of the loading, the stress concentration occurs around the initial misalignment of fiber in 0-degree plies, and it also occurs around the area where fibers come close in 90-degree plies. At average applied strain 1.20 %, the fiber breaking damage initiates in 0-degree ply, and after this point the damage develops in the material. The simulated damage is close to the microscope picture of the actual composite materials obtained in the experiment. The current simulation is considered to correspond with the actual material deformation.