Multiscale analysis of notched fiber reinforced laminates

Abstract

An efficient two-scale computational method to predict the progressive damage and failure response of three different polymer matrix multidirectioanl laminates used in the Tech Scout-1 challenge, conducted by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for uniaxial tensile and compressive responses is presented. The sub-scale model is an analytical model, the 2CYL (2-concentric cylinder) model, developed by Zhang and Waas [1] earlier. The material system is IM-7/977–3. The notched laminates are modeled explicitly using 3D solid elements for individual lamina and the interlaminar finite thickness layer is modeled using discrete cohesive zone elements (DCZM) [2]. The constituent level input parameters are obtained from standard unnotched [0], [90] and [+45/−45]4s coupon level experimental data, provided by AFRL. The matrix microdamage and the lamina pre-peak nonlinearity are modeled using a secant stiffness approach, while the post-peak softening failure response is modeled using a mesh-objective smeared crack approach (SCA) [3, 4], implemented at the macroscale. The proposed two-scale strategy is implemented for each fiber and matrix dominated intralaminar failure modes and interfaced with the SCA to predict the macroscopic response and the detailed local ply level progressive failure mechanisms. The predicted results are compared with experimental results [5] that show very good agreement.