Puck Failure Research Articles

Numerical modelling of progressive failure in fiber-reinforced polymer composites under quasi-static loading

The demand for fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites has been increasing in the last decades due to their excellent mechanical properties when compared to traditional materials. However, this class of materials has a more complex stress-strain response, which requires improved design methodologies. To take advantage of these unique characteristics and efficiently design structures, the usage of finite element analysis to predict progressive failure can be a powerful tool. Hence, in the present study, a method for predicting the initialization and progression of matrix and fibre damage in fibre-reinforced polymer composites was implemented using Puck's failure criterion and the Element Weakening Method (EWM). This numerical approach was validated using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) measurements and monotonic tensile tests to evaluate the ultimate load. The results show that the implemented method is able to predict the strain field at the specimen surface as well as the ultimate load level.

Investigating the impact of different machinability processes and fibre architecture on the bearing performance of pin-loaded textile structural composites for automotive applications: Experimental and finite element analysis

The present study aims to investigate the effect of different machinability processes such as drilling, abrasive water jet machining (AWJM), and laser beam machining (LBM) along with different fibre architectures on the behavior of machined hole, bearing strength (joint performance), and failure mechanism of different textile fibre-reinforced structural composites (TFRSC) fabricated using glass, basalt, and sisal fibres suitable for automotive applications. Different structural preforms such as chopped fibre, unidirectional (UD), bidirectional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) woven orthogonal structures were developed and subsequently converted to their respective composite forms using the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process. Morphological damage evaluation and fractography of the developed composite materials were carried out by optical microscopic analysis. The experimental observations revealed that the basalt fibre reinforced textile structural composite (BFRTSC) specimens exhibited the highest bearing strength compared to glass fibre reinforced textile structural composites (GFRTSC) and sisal fibre reinforced textile structural composites (SFRTSC) for all the processes. The bearing strength of composites was in the order of 3D > chopped > 2D > UD, respectively. Additionally, a novel methodical mechanics-based approach was introduced to develop the finite element modeling (FEM) mesoscale model using SOLIDWORKS to study the bearing response of pin-loaded TFRSC. The well-established 3D Hashin's failure and Puck's failure models were used to predict the woven-based composite material damage modes, and it was implemented through a user subroutine along with LS-DYNA. The bearing response predicted by the FEM simulation was found in a good agreement with the experimental observations.

Puck's Criterion for the tensile response of composite laminates: A numerical approach

Material designers have extensively analyzed, utilizing failure theories, the dependability and service response of composite materials for their intended uses. To increase the precision and accuracy of performance prediction, failure theories have undergone numerous revisions. The current study uses the finite element method to predict the tensile response while also using Puck's failure criterion and the damage evolution law to composite laminates. Five non-hybrid sequences made of paperboard, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), glass fibre, aramid fibre, and carbon fibre have been put through experimental investigation of tensile and three-point bending. The numerical analysis has been carried out using the Material Designer, ACP® and Structural Analysis modules of ANSYS® finite element software. The experimental results have been compared with the numerical results, to arrive at the set of empirical constants for the different materials.

Verification of Puck's criterion for CFRP laminates under multiaxial loads at ambient and cryogenic temperatures

Objective of the present study is the verification of Puck's failure criterion for multiaxial mechanical loading situations in the ambient and cryogenic thermal regimes. The assessment is based on the material data and the failure envelope determined in a previous study on uniaxially loaded single-ply specimens study. Here, the pre-existing experimental data base is complemented by experiments on specimens made from angle ply laminates featuring holes, tapered sections and combinations thereof. The specimens were tested at ambient temperature and in a liquid Helium environment at 4.2 K. For determination of the local stress states in the individual plies at the stress concentrations induced by the holes and tapered sections, the experiments were simulated numerically by the finite element method. It is found that Puck's criterion in most cases provides conservative results. Unresolved additional safety margins may develop if a structural failure in an inter-fiber mode requires development of larger delaminations of adjacent plies to form a through crack.

Non-linear material characterization of CFRP with FEM utilizing cohesive surface considerations validated with effective tensile test fixturing

Modelling the effect of fibre orientation in carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) on mechanical behaviour is critical for component design and manufacturing process optimization. The objectives of this paper are to simulate the mechanical properties of CFRP to fracture and design a tensile test rig that could induce fracture at the specimen gauge section consistently. Finite element solver ABAQUS Explicit was used to simulate the effects of mass/time scaling, different failure models and cohesive surfaces. Failure models evaluated were Hashin, MCT, LaRC02, maximum strain, Tsai-Wu, Tsai-Hill, Christensen and Puck. The fibre orientations investigated were parallel, 45° and perpendicular to the tensile loading condition. Extensive design of the tensile test rig was briefly described. Experimental results showed that with the newly designed test rig, the failure occurred in the gauge region, regardless of the fibre orientation. When the fibre orientation was parallel to the tensile load, all the failure models show similar rate of force increment with respect to displacement. Puck's failure model most accurately predicts the fracture force and displacement versus experimental data. With fibre orientations at 45° and 90°, the maximum strain and LaRCO2 failure models were more suitable in terms of accuracy and simulation convergence. Incorporating cohesive surfaces between instances to predict nonlinearity in the loading response is critical. Significant reduction in failure force was predicted when test was setup at angles between parallel to 45°. The model was capable of predicting the effects of fibre orientation and laminate thickness on fracture force agreeing with published experimental results.

Finite element analysis of dynamic responses of composite pressure vessels under low velocity impact by using a three-dimensional laminated media model

This paper aims to study dynamic structural responses and failure mechanisms of composite pressure vessels subjected to low velocity impact. First, a three-dimensional laminated media model based on sub-laminate theory is introduced for intralaminar damage, where Puck's failure criteria and strain based damage evolution laws for fiber and matrix are used. The impact responses of composite pressure vessels can be calculated based on sub-laminates and the fiber and matrix damage are predicted based on each ply by using this approach. Second, the proposed laminated media model is implemented using ABAQUS/Explicit user-defined material subroutine VUMAT by the time stepping algorithm and the bilinear cohesive model is employed to simulate interlaminar delamination. Finally, numerical simulations are performed to study the impact force-time/central displacement curves and intralaminar damage and interlaminar delamination features for composite pressure vessels at three different impact energy. Detailed energy dissipation mechanisms due to intralaminar dynamic progressive failure, interlaminar delamination and deformation of liner are also discussed. By comparison, relatively good agreement is achieved between the experimental and numerical results by using the three-dimensional laminated media model.

A Numerical/Experimental Study on the Impact and CAI Behaviour of Glass Reinforced Compsite Plates

This paper focuses on the development of an advance numerical model specifically for simulating low velocity impact events and related stiffness reduction on composite structures. The model is suitable for low cost thick composite structures like wind turbine blade and maritime vessels. The model consist of a combination of inter and intra laminar models. The intra-laminar model present a combination of Puck and Hashin failure theories for the evaluation of the fibre and matrix failure. The inter-laminar damage is instead simulated by Cohesive Zone Method based on energy approach. Basic material properties, easily measurable according to standardized tests, are required. The model has been used to simulate impact and compression after impact tests. Experimental tests have been carried out on thick E-Glass/Epoxy composite commonly used in the wind turbine industry. The clustering effect as well as the consequence of the impact energy have been experimentally tested. The accuracy of numerical model has been verified against experimental data showing a very good accuracy of the model.

Finite element implementation of Puck's failure criterion for failure analysis of laminated plate subjected to biaxial loadings

The present work proposes a finite element implementation of Puck's failure criterion for ultimate failure analysis of laminated composite plate via well-established higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT). A seven degree of freedom and C0 continuity finite element model using nine noded isoparametric elements is developed for precise computation of ply-by-ply stresses of laminated composite plate subjected to various bi-axial loading. The physically based Puck's failure criterion based on Mohr–Coulomb hypothesis and a degradation model proposed by Puck is used in the present failure analysis procedure for computing first-ply failure (FPF) and last-ply failure (LPF) stress. The finite element implementation is carried out through a finite element code developed in MATLAB, where material non-linearity due to material behaviour under in plane loading and post FPF damage, was taken into account. The results obtained by present approach are compared with classical Tsai–Wu, Tsai–Hill, Lee's failure criteria and experimental results available in various literatures. The FPF and LPF stress envelopes for a critical lamina are obtained for various lamination schemes, thickness ratio, modulus ratio and different biaxial loading conditions for symmetric angle-ply and cross-ply laminates.

Accurate stochastic initial and final failure of laminated plates subjected to hygro-thermo-mechanical loadings using Puck's failure criteria

The second order statistics of first-ply and last-ply failure (FPF and LPF) response of laminated composite plate with random input parameters such as constituent material properties, plate thickness, volume fiber fraction and temperature difference, subjected to hygro-thermo-mechanical loading are investigated in this paper. Stochastic finite element method (SFEM) based on higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) with material non-linearity via second order perturbation technique (SOPT) is formulated for computing mean and coefficient of variation (COV) of FPF and LPF using Puck’s failure criteria. Failure strength of each ply and corresponding failure mode is predicted by using micromechanics based modeling approach. The effect of different environmental conditions, volume fiber fraction, lamination schemes, lamination angle, side to thickness ratio, different bi-axial loading on FPF and LPF response is investigated. The capability of the present SFEM in predicting FPF and LPF load statistics has been studied, by comparing the results obtained with the independent Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) technique. The predicted hygro-thermo-mechanical strengths of the several laminates are compared with the available experimental data and it shows good agreement.

Stochastic progressive failure analysis of laminated composite plates using Puck's failure criteria

ABSTRACTThe present work deals with second-order statistics of the progressive failure response of laminated composite plates subjected to in-plane uniaxial and bi-axial loadings with random system properties. A stochastic finite element method based on higher-order shear deformation theory combined with first- and second-order perturbation technique is used for solution of random progressive failure equation. A Puck failure criterion is used for the evaluation of first ply and last-ply failure load. The results obtained using the present solution approach are validated with the results available in the literature and Monte Carlo simulation.

A three-dimensional progressive damage FE model for GFRP composites under monotonic loading

An anisotropic non-linear 3-D progressive damage constitutive model for composite materials under monotonic loading (both tension and compression) was presented. It was implemented in a 3-D solid finite element of a commercial FEA code. Material non-linearity was taken into account, based on experimental data at the ply level. Puck's failure theory for general 3-D stress state was also implemented for the determination of the failure onset of each ply along with new, simple stiffness degradation rules for the simulation of the mechanical behaviour of the damaged ply, including a very limited number of fitting parameters. The parameters were derived by comparing the simulation results against experimental data of [±45]S and 60° off-axis uni-directional coupons in tension. The model was validated by comparing its results to experimental data of glass/epoxy continuous fibre reinforced composite laminates of various lay-ups under axial, static, tensile and compressive loading. The effect of the FE mesh and the load increment was investigated. It was proven that 6 layers of FE per UD ply across the thickness direction were enough to capture the 3-D stress state effects in all cases. The FE model width was proven to have an important influence on the predictions. The failure modes predicted by the FE analysis were also compared against photos of failed specimens. The results of the MD laminates simulated were very good and the failure modes predicted were in good agreement with the damage observed on the failed coupons.

Puck 파손기준-손상역학 연계이론을 활용한 적층 복합재료의 점진적 파손해석기법 개발

In the present study, an evaluation method for progressive failure of composite laminates has been proposed based on Puck's failure criterion and damage mechanics. The initial failure (or initiation of crack/delamination) has been assessed using Puck's failure criterion, and the progressive failure (or growth of crack/delamination) has been evaluated using fiber- and matrix-dependent damage variables. Based on Puck's failure criterion-damage mechanics coupling theories, the ABAQUS user-defined subroutine UMAT has been developed in order to analyze the progressive failure of glass/carbon fiber-reinforced composite laminates efficiently. In addition, the developed subroutine has been applied to progressive failure problem of industrial composite laminates, and the analysis results has been compared to experimental results which have been already reported in publications. It was confirmed that the simulation results were coincided well with the reported composite failure results.

풍력 블레이드에서 정적 이축하중 부하에 따른 거동 분석

블레이드의 성능 평가를 위하여 실제 사용 환경과 근접한 하중 모사에 따른 이축 하중의 필요성이 제기되고 있으며, 본 본문에서는 이러한 이축 하중에 따른 블레이드의 거동을 해석하였다. 100㎾급 풍력 블레이드를 대상으로 하였으며, ANSYS를 사용하여 정적거동을 분석하였다. 정적거동은 파손해석과 좌굴거동으로 분석하였으며, 파손 평가는 Puck이 제안한 파손 방정식을 이용하여 섬유 파손과 섬유간 파손 기준을 검토하였다. 이축하중의 하중비가 증가함에 따라 루트부 단면이 변하는 후연부와 루트에서 Z+ 3300~3600인 지점에서 응력이 상대적으로 크게 나타났다. 또한 이축 하중비가 증가함에 따라 블레이드 좌굴 지점이 루트부 쪽으로 이동되고 있음을 확인하였다. 따라서 블레이드의 사용 신뢰성을 검증하기 위해서는 이축 하중에 의한 시험이 요구되고 있음을 본 해석을 통해서 확인하였다.

Progressive Damage of Unidirectional Composite Panels

This work focuses on the numerical simulation of damage and fracture of unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite structures using the finite element method. A computational model is presented which can predict initial failure and is capable of the simulation of the subsequent process of local material damage up to final fracture. This procedure also known as progressive failure analysis originally combines Puck's failure criterion for the prediction of local failure and an innovative stiffness degradation approach for the simulation of resulting damage. The performance of the proposed model is demonstrated on examples of tensile tests of single-ply fiber-reinforced panels having different fiber orientations with and without stress concentrators. The numerical simulation is performed both as quasi-static and transient analysis and it involves identification and repetitive adjustment of material properties. The comparison of the results from experiment and from the simulation yields satisfactory agreement.