Multiscale verification method for prediction results of mechanical behaviors in unidirectional fiber reinforced composites

Abstract

At present, there is almost no reliable multiscale experiment method that can be used to verify the multiscale mechanical behaviors of unidirectional (UD) fiber reinforced composites (FRC). Therefore, a multiscale method was developed for verifying the prediction results of the macro-mechanical properties and micro-damage modes in UD FRC. Firstly, the fiber volume fractions were determined using the fiber content test for three different FRC. Secondly, the random fiber distributed representative volume elements (RFDRVEs) were generated corresponding to these fiber volume fractions. Moreover, the RFDRVEs were used to predict the macro-mechanical properties and micro-damage modes of UD FRC. Ultimately, the standard mechanical tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to verify the accuracy of the prediction for the macro-mechanical properties and micro-damage modes of UD FRC. The results show that the proposed multiscale method is feasible for the verification of the multiscale prediction results based on RFDRVEs.