Modelling of fatigue damage progression and life of CFRP laminates

A progressive fatigue damage model has been developed for predicting damage accumulation and life of carbon fibre‐reinforced plastics (CFRP) laminates with arbitrary geometry and stacking sequence subjected to constant amplitude cyclic loading. The model comprises the components of stress analysis, fatigue failure analysis and fatigue material property degradation. Stress analysis of the composite laminate was performed by creating a three‐dimensional finite element model in the ANSYS FE code. Fatigue failure analysis was performed by using a set of Hashin‐type failure criteria and the Ye‐delamination criterion. Two types of material property degradations on the basis of element stiffness and strength were applied: a sudden degradation because of sudden failure detected by the fatigue failure criteria and a gradual degradation because of the nature of cyclic loading, which is driven by the increased number of cycles. The gradual degradation of the composite material was modelled by using functions relating the residual stiffness and residual strength of the laminate to the number of cycles. All model components have been programmed in the ANSYS FE code in order to create a user‐friendly macro‐routine. The model has been applied in two different quasi‐isotropic CFRP laminates subjected to tension–compression (T–C) fatigue and the predictions of fatigue life and damage accumulation as a function of the number of cycles were compared with experimental data available in the literature. A very good agreement was obtained.     

Evaluation of damage in composites by using thermoelastic stress analysis: A promising technique to assess the stiffness degradation

The stiffness degradation represents one of the most interesting damage phenomena used for describing the fatigue behaviour of composites. A critical aspect of modelling the damage is represented by the simulation of the whole behaviour of the composite and by the assessment of the actual stiffness for the models validation. In this work, the stiffness degradation of quasi‐isotropic carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) obtained by automated fibre placement has been assessed by means of thermoelastic stress analysis. The amplitude of temperature signal at the mechanical frequency (thermoelastic signal) was considered as an indicator of material degradation and compared with the data provided by an extensometer. The correlation between thermoelastic and mechanical data allowed to build a new experimental model for evaluating and predicting material stiffness degradation by just using thermoelastic data. The proposed approach seems to be very promising for stiffness degradation assessment of real and complex mechanical components subjected to actual loading conditions.     

Fatigue behaviour of continuous glass fibre reinforced composites

A study has been undertaken of fatigue in glass fibre reinforced composites. Two matrix resins were tested: a standard polyester and a polyurethane-vinyl-ester, which was designed to have a higher toughness. Three different types of glass fibre fabrics were used for reinforcement: a conventional woven roving and two stitch-bonded cloths. The glass cloths were combined into various lay-ups, in order to consider the effects of matrix, cloth and lay-up on the fatigue strength. Additionally, a study was undertaken to evaluate the micromechanisms that occurred during fatigue and how damage accumulated throughout the sample lifetime. This involved measuring stiffness changes during fatigue cycling, followed by microscopic study of the samples. It was found that similar damage micromechanisms occurred in each lay-up regardless of resin and cloth type, and these included matrix cracking, delamination and fibre breakage. However, differences were observed in the extent, location and rate of damage, and these were consistent with the variations seen in the fatigue strengths.     

Poisson's ratio as a sensitive indicator of (fatigue) damage in fibre-reinforced plastics

Even if the extent of damage in fibre‐reinforced plastics is limited, it already affects the elastic properties. Therefore, the damage initiation and propagation in composite structures is monitored very carefully. Beside the use of nondestructive testing methods (ultrasonic inspection, optical fibre sensing), the follow‐up of the degradation of engineering properties such as the stiffness is a common approach. In this paper, it is investigated if the Poisson's ratio can be used as a sensitive indicator of (fatigue) damage in fibre‐reinforced plastics. Static, cyclic and fatigue tests have been performed on [0°/90°]_2s glass/epoxy laminates, and axial and transverse strain were measured continuously. The evolution of the Poisson's ratio ν_xy versus time and axial strain ɛ_xx is studied. It is concluded that the degradation of the Poisson's ratio can be a valuable indicator of damage, in combination with the stiffness degradation.     

Fatigue life prediction of woven composite laminates with initial delamination

An engineering approach for fatigue life prediction of fibre‐reinforced polymer composite materials is highly desirable for industries due to the complexity in damage mechanisms and their interactions. This paper presents a fatigue‐driven residual strength model considering the effect of initial delamination size and stress ratio. Static and constant amplitude fatigue tests of woven composite specimens with delamination diameters of 0, 4 and 6 mm were carried out to determine the model parameters. Good agreement with experimental results has been achieved when the modified residual strength model has been applied for fatigue life prediction of the woven composite laminate with an initial delamination diameter of 8 mm under constant amplitude load and block fatigue load. It has been demonstrated that the residual strength degradation‐based model can effectively reflect the load sequence effect on fatigue damage and hence provide more accurate fatigue life prediction than the traditional linear damage accumulation models.     

Tensile and compressive damage coupling for fully-reversed bending fatigue of fibre-reinforced composites

ABSTRACT Due to their high specific stiffness and strength, fibre-reinforced composite materials are winning through in a wide range of applications in automotive, naval and aerospace industry. Their design for fatigue is a complicated problem and a large research effort is being spent on it today. However there is still a need for extensive experimental testing or large safety factors to be adopted, because numerical simulations of the fatigue damage behaviour of fibre-reinforced composites are often found to be unreliable. This is due to the limited applicability of the theoretical models developed so far, compared to the complex multi-axial fatigue loadings that composite components often have to sustain in in-service loading conditions.
In this paper a new phenomenological fatigue model is presented. It is basically a residual stiffness model, but through an appropriate choice of the stress measure, the residual strength and thus final failure can be predicted as well. Two coupled growth rate equations for tensile and compressive damage describe the damage growth under tension–compression loading conditions and provide a much more general approach than the use of the stress ratio R . The model has been applied to fully-reversed bending of plain woven glass/epoxy specimens. Stress redistributions and the three stages of stiffness degradation (sharp initial decline – gradual deterioration – final failure) could be simulated satisfactorily.     

Fatigue life prediction of nanoparticle/fibrous polymeric composites based on the micromechanical and normalized stiffness degradation approaches

In this paper, a new model based on the micromechanical and normalized stiffness degradation approaches is established. It has been assumed that during the fatigue condition, only material properties of composites (fiber and matrix) were degraded and nanofillers remain intact under different states of stress. A normalized stiffness degradation model was proposed for laminated fibrous composites reinforced with nanoparticles to derive a novel model to predict the stiffness reduction. The developed model is capable of predicting the fatigue life of nanoparticle-filled fibrous composites based on the experimental data of fibrous composites without nanofillers. The new fatigue model is verified by applying it to different experimental data provided by different researchers. The obtained results by the new fatigue model are in very good agreement with the experimental data of nano-silica glass/epoxy composites under constant cyclic stress amplitude fatigue and also for silica/epoxy nanocomposites in various states of stress with negligible error.     

FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION OF NOTCHED COMPOSITE COMPONENTS

Abstract— The local stress/strain approach has been used to predict the fatigue lives of notched composite components. The method was based on a microstress analysis and the application of a multiaxial fatigue parameter incorporating the alternating strain components on the critical plane. This parameter was able to correlate the fatigue lives obtained under a variety of multiaxial loading and geometrical configurations, enabling a generalized fatigue life curve to be determined on the basis of limited experimental data.
The ability of the multiaxial fatigue parameter to relate the fatigue behaviour of composites was illustrated by predicting the locations of crack initiation sites in a unidirectional silicon carbide fibre reinforced titanium plate containing a circular hole tested under constant amplitude cyclic loading. The same approach was also successfully employed to predict the fatigue lives of graphite reinforced epoxy composite tubes with circular holes tested under several combinations of cyclic tension and torsion.     

Fatigue damage model for injection-molded short glass fibre reinforced thermoplastics

The present paper is a contribution to the phenomenological modelling of fatigue non-linear cumulative diffuse damage in short glass fibre reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites. In such materials, fatigue damage kinetic exhibits three stages, namely: (i) material softening and damage initiation, (ii) coalescence and propagation of micro-cracks and (iii) macroscopic cracks propagation and material failure. The proposed model is built in the framework of the continuum damage mechanics and aims at predicting these three stages of the damage evolution. This model is based on the approach initially proposed by Ladevèze and Le Dantec [Ladevèze P, Le Dantec E. Damage modelling of the elementary ply for laminated composites. Comp Sci Technol 1992;43:257–67]. It extends the previous approach and takes into account the important stiffness reduction observed during the first damage stage. The above is modelled by the integration of a combined Norton-like power law and an exponential law expressing the damage rates as a function of the associated thermodynamic dual forces. The model has been formulated in terms of strain energy, so that makes easy its numerical implementation into the finite element code Abaqus/Standard through a user defined material subroutine UMAT. Numerical simulations are performed on a short glass fibre reinforced thermoplastic described by a given set of damage parameters. Damage evolutions predicted by the developed model reproduce well those observed for this kind of composites under cyclic loading. A parametric study is performed to understand the effects of the model parameters on the damage accumulation and their sensitivity on its kinetic. The sensitivity study would be useful since it contributes to optimise the ongoing experimental procedure aimed at identifying the damage model parameters.     

Monitoring of multiaxial fatigue damage evolution in impacted composite tubes using non-destructive evaluation

Damage evolution in wound glass fibre reinforced tubes due to impact (8.4 J and 14 J) and subsequent biaxial cyclic loading is studied. Nominally defect-free and impact damaged specimens are compared to investigate the effect of the impact damage on the fatigue life of multiaxial composites. Non-destructive inspection (air-coupled guided waves, thermography, high-speed photography, and microscopy) is applied to a subset of tubes. Air-coupled guided wave scans for characterisation of the delaminations due to impact agree well with visual inspection. Decline in guided wave velocity is consistent to a decrease in stiffness caused by fatigue damage. Using thermal imaging the impact is detectable during cyclic loading. Strong anomalies of the surface temperature in the vicinity of the impact at the end of the fatigue life correspond to the initiation spot of final failure observed by high-speed imaging. The considerable effect of impact damage on the durability of the specimens is discussed.     

Non-destructive assessment of the fatigue strength and damage progression of satin woven fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites

The aim of this study is to utilize infrared thermography to assess the critical damage states, and to capture the evolving damage processes, of 5HS and 8HS woven carbon fiber/epoxy composites subjected to uniaxial in-plane tensile quasi-static and fatigue loading. Quasi-static test results revealed that the dominant damage mechanisms were matrix cracks contained within the weft yarns, which initiated at the thermally-detected material thermoelastic limit and were confirmed through SEM observations. An established thermographic technique was also used to confirm the existence of a high cycle fatigue limit, which may in fact be a characteristic of all fabric reinforced polymeric composites. Temperature profiles captured during cyclic testing directly correlated with corresponding stiffness degradation profiles, providing support for thermography as an accurate fatigue damage metric. The infrared camera was able to detect the evolution of weft yarn cracking during the initial stage, as well as the initiation and growth of interply delamination cracking during the final stage of three-stage cyclic damage evolution. The reported results and observations provide an important step in the validation of thermography as a powerful non-destructive tool for assessing the development of damage, as well as predicting the critical damage states of fiber reinforced polymeric composite materials.     

A comparative study of failure features in aerospace grade unidirectional and bidirectional woven CFRP composite laminates under four‐point bend fatigue loads

Damage mechanisms in unidirectional (UD) and bi‐directional (BD) woven carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates subjected to four point flexure, both in static and fatigue loadings, were studied. The damage progression in composites was monitored by observing the slopes of the load vs. deflection data that represent the stiffness of the given specimen geometry over a number of cycles. It was observed that the unidirectional composites exhibit gradual loss in stiffness whereas the bidirectional woven composites show a relatively quicker loss during stage II of fatigue damage progression. Both, the static and the fatigue failures in unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites originates due to generation of cracks on compression face while in bidirectional woven composites the damage ensues from both the compression and the tensile faces. These observations are supported by a detailed fractographic analysis.     

Elevated temperature off-axis fatigue behavior of an eight-harness satin woven carbon-fiber/bismaleimide laminate

The off-axis tensile fatigue behavior of a woven fiber/bismaleimide laminate is investigated at various temperatures. Emphasis was placed on characterization of the laminates and the development of an analytical fatigue damage model. Fatigue tests revealed that the material exhibits an atypical three-stage response in terms of stiffness degradation and permanent strain. Fiber yarn rotation was found to be a dominant mechanism in the initial stage of cycling causing high permanent strain and slight stiffness increase, while damage accumulation due to cyclic loading was dominant in the final stage causing rapid stiffness degradation. The mean strain variation during cycling was found to be proportional to the test temperature in each stage, and thus a more meaningful indicator for fatigue damage development. The corresponding analytical damage model was able to accurately capture the three-stage damage development. The current model can be used to determine damage development for cyclic loading at intermediate temperatures.     

Air-coupled guided waves combined with thermography for monitoring fatigue in biaxially loaded composite tubes

Non-destructive methodologies for remote monitoring of fatigue induced by mechanical load in fibre reinforced plastics are presented. Hollow cylinders (glass fibre winding) were stepwise biaxially fatigued and measured in single-sided access configurations. Based on conversion of air-coupled ultrasound to guided waves, it is shown that accumulated fatigue damage is accompanied by decrease in phase velocity and increase in attenuation. The change in wave velocity caused by fatigue is shown to correlate closely with measurements of stiffness degradation of the composite. The attenuation of guided waves is affected by crack density which is visually traceable in the transparent composite. Monitoring of cyclic loading of the specimens by thermal imaging and a high-speed camera revealed that the initiation of final failure in the specimens coincides with spots of increased temperature. Air-coupled guided wave area scans allow for observing the development of these areas and other local damage in the composite.     

A phenomenologically based damage model for 2D and 3D-textile composites with non-crimp reinforcement

The application of textile-reinforced composites for safety-relevant structural components requires reliable predictions about their damage and failure behaviour. The potential of these materials for engineering applications has not been fully exploited so far since practical design rules disallow the occurence of any damage in the material even if the damage is not critical. In this context, the paper presents a novel damage model for textile composites with quasi-unidirectional reinforcement. A failure criterion based on the failure mode concept is adopted to describe the quasi-brittle fracture behaviour. To take into account the subsequent non-linear stiffness degradation, this approach is combined with a continuum damage mechanics model. The capability of the damage model is shown for biaxially reinforced weft-knitted glass fibre–epoxy composites.     

Damage in biocomposites: Stiffness evolution of aligned plant fibre composites during monotonic and cyclic fatigue loading

The non-linear stress–strain behaviour of plant fibre composites is well-known in the scientific community. Yet, the important consequences of this, in terms of the evolution of stiffness as a function of applied strain and cycles to failure, are not well-studied in literature. This is despite the fact that stiffness degradation is a well-accepted indicator of damage in a composite material, and is regularly used as a component failure criterion. This article systematically explores the evolution of stiffness of various aligned plant fibre composites, subjected to (i) monotonic loading, (ii) low-cycle, repeated progressive loading, and (iii) fatigue loading. The evolution in stiffness in plant fibre composites is found to be complex: structural changes in the elementary fibre cell wall and damage development in the composite have often competing effects on stress–strain behaviour. Indeed, the evolution in stiffness of plant fibre composites is found to be unlike that typically observed in traditional composites, and therefore needs to be taken into account in the design of structural components.     

A progressive damage simulation algorithm for GFRP composites under cyclic loading. Part II: FE implementation and model validation

The FE implementation of FADAS, a material constitutive model capable of simulating the mechanical behaviour of GFRP composites under variable amplitude multiaxial cyclic loading, was presented. The discretization of the problem domain by means of FE is necessary for predicting the damage progression in real structures, as failure initiates at the vicinity of a stress concentrator, causing stress redistribution and the gradual spread of damage until the global failure of the structure. The implementation of the stiffness and strength degradation models in the principal material directions of the unidirectional ply was thoroughly discussed. Details were also presented on the FE models developed, the computational effort needed and the definition of final failure considered. Numerical predictions were corroborated satisfactorily by experimental data from constant amplitude uniaxial fatigue of multidirectional glass/epoxy laminates under various stress ratios. The validation of predictions included fatigue strength, stiffness degradation and residual static strength after cyclic loading.     

Das zyklische Spannungs-Dehnungs-Verhalten metallischer Faserverbundwerkstoffe am Beispiel von stahlfaserverstärktem Silber und Kupfer

The Cyclic Stress-Strain Behaviour of Metallic Fibre Reinforced Composites – a Study of Steel Fibre Reinforced Silver and Copper Under fatigue loading conditions unidirectionally reinforced fibrous composites often show a cyclic stress-strain behaviour which can not be simply explained by the properties of the components but only by their cooperation in the composite (so-called synergetic effects). The observed behaviour may either result from the composite production process or subsequent heat treatments and is usually attributed to residual stresses between the matrix and the fibres and the distribution of the fatigue load on the components. Some experimental observations in steel fibre reinforced copper and silver are discussed. Deviations from the initially expected stress-strain response may lead to premature damage of the composite. On the other hand, the effects may also be used for the improvement of fatigue loaded fibre reinforced composites.     

Characterization of stiffness degradation caused by fatigue damage in textile composites using circumferential plate acoustic waves

The aim of this paper is to show the possibility of fatigue damage characterization in GFRP-tube-like components by using circumferential plate waves. For that purpose, fatigue tests with different loading directions have been conducted and the stiffness degradation has been monitored. After a preset number of loading cycles, non-destructive ultrasonic tests using circumferential plate waves were performed. The correlation between damage induced amplitude changes of the plate waves and stiffness degradation in non-crimped fabric composites is discussed. The results indicate that the technique is applicable to fatigue damage assessment in complex-shaped components of composite materials and is relevant to a wide field of applications.     

An energy approach to predict fatigue crack propagation in metals and alloys

On the basis of the kinetic theory of strength, a new approach to the modeling of material degradation in cyclic loading has been suggested. Assuming that not stress changes, but acting stresses cause the damage growth in materials under fatigue conditions, we applied the kinetic theory of strength to model the material degradation. The damage growth per cycle, the effect of the loading frequency on the lifetime and on the stiffness reduction in composites were determined analytically. It has been shown that the number of cycles to failure increases almost linearly and the damage growth per cycle decreases with increasing the loading frequency.