The Progressive Failure Analysis of Uni-Directional Fibre Reinforced Composite Laminates

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe three dimensional standard damage model developed by Lavedeze et.al [9, 13] for uni-directional fibre reinforced ply is implemented into the nonlinear solution of NX Nastran within composite solid element to analyze the progressive damage process and ultimate failure of fibre reinforced composite laminates. This ply level meso-damage-constitutive-model takes into account main damage mechanisms including fibre breaking, matrix transverse cracking, and fibre/matrix de-bonding; also considers contributions like plasticity coupling, damage delay effects, and elastic nonlinearity in fibre compression. Dissipated energy and damage status are also introduced to reflect the damage condition on the macrostructural-level. Using the implemented code, simulation is carried out on the uniaxial tension of a [±45]2s laminate with IM6/914 material, wherein the predicted ply shear rupture stress matches the experimental results very well and better than the theoretical predictions in literature. Moreover, a [-45/0/45/90] holed laminate loaded in tension is simulated to show the complex behavior of subcritical damage evolution and failure process in the composite structure. The composite solid element with damage model supported in NX Nastran is shown to be a reliable tool to analyze the progressive failure of uni-directional fibre reinforced composite laminates.