Multi-Scale Model for Damage Analysis in Fiber-Reinforced Composites With Debonding

Abstract

This paper presents an adaptive multi‐level computational model for multi‐scale analysis of composite structures with damage due to fiber/matrix interfacial debonding. The method combines continuum damage modeling with displacement based FEM with a microstructurally explicit modeling of interfacial debonding by the Voronoi cell FEM (VCFEM). Three computational levels of hierarchy with different resolutions are introduced to reduce modeling and discretization errors due to inappropriate resolution. They are: (a) level‐0 of pure macroscopic analysis, for which a continuum damage mechanics (CDM) model is developed from homogenization of micromechanical variables that evolve with interfacial debonding; (b) level‐1 of coupled macroscopic‐microscopic modeling to implement adequate criteria for switching from macroscopic analyses to pure microscopic analyses; and (c) level‐2 regions of pure microscopic modeling with explicit interfacial debonding. A numerical example of a composite joint is solved to demonstrate the limitations of CDM model and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the multi‐scale in predicting failure due to interfacial debonding.