Effect of thermal residual stresses on matrix failure under transverse tension at micromechanical level: A numerical and experimental analysis

In the present work the influence at micromechanical scale of thermal residual stresses, originated in the cooling down associated to the curing process of fibrous composites, on inter-fibre failure under transverse tension is studied. In particular, the effect of the presence of thermal residual stresses on the appearance of the first debonds is discussed analytically, whereas later steps of the mechanism of damage, i.e. the growth of interface cracks and their kinking towards the matrix, are analysed by means of a single fibre model and making use of the Boundary Element Method (BEM). The results are evaluated applying Interfacial Fracture Mechanics concepts. The conclusions obtained predict, at least in the case of dilute fibre packing, a protective effect of thermal residual stresses against failure initiation, the morphology of the damage not being significantly affected in comparison with the case in which these stresses are not considered. Experimental tests are carried out, the results agreeing with the conclusions of the numerical analysis.     

Micro-mechanical analysis of the effect of ply thickness on the transverse compressive strength of polymer composites

A micro-mechanical model is used to study the effect of ply thickness on constrained 90° plies subjected to transverse compressive loading (in situ effect). For cross-ply sublaminates with conventional, standard-thickness 90° plies, failure is dominated by fibre–matrix interface cracking and large localised plastic deformation of the matrix, forming a localised band in a plane that is not aligned with the loading direction. Ultra-thin plies show a dispersed damage mechanism, combining wedge cracking with ply fragmentation/separation. Moreover, a transverse crack suppression effect is clearly observed. To the authors’ knowledge, it is the first time an in situ effect in transverse compression has been identified. When comparing the results of the micro-mechanical model with the predictions from analytical models for the in situ effect, the same trends are obtained. These results also show that, for realistic ply thicknesses, these analytical models can be considered fairly accurate.     

Effect of humidity during manufacturing on the interfacial strength of non-pre-dried flax fibre/unsaturated polyester composites

The influence of moisture content in the environment during manufacture of a novel cobalt-free UP matrix reinforced with flax fibres, on the fibre–matrix adhesion was studied. Flax surface energy was experimentally determined by measuring contact angles on technical fibres, using the Wilhelmy technique and the acid–base theory. The mechanical strength of the interface under different humidity conditions was characterized by the critical local value of interfacial shear stress, τ_d, at the moment of crack initiation, which was assessed by single-fibre pull-out tests. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis gave further insight into the topic. The results suggest that the effect of humidity during manufacturing on the composite interface might be limited. However, longitudinal composite strength decreased somewhat for composites produced in humid conditions, showing that there is some detrimental effect of high levels of moisture during cure on the fibre mechanical performance, likely caused by some fibre degradation.     

FE macro/micro analysis of thermal residual stresses and failure behaviour under transverse tensile load of VE/CF – fibre bundle composites

This paper presents a finite element analysis of a transverse fibre bundle test (TFT) using carbon fibres embedded in a vinylester urethane hybrid matrix. The evolution of thermal residual stresses, due to the cooling phase of the curing process of the model-composite and the subsequent mechanical load transverse to the fibre direction, has been investigated. The applied displacement coupling technique allowed to transfer the boundary conditions from a global model (macro model) via an intermediate model to a micro model. As a result it could be shown that the larger fraction of the total stress build up until failure occurred was due to the implicated thermal residual stresses. The micro model offered more accurate and detailed results with regard to the stress distributions on critical locations such as the fibre/matrix interface region. Generally, the results of the global model were in good agreement with the experimental data obtained. Further, the parabolic failure criterion based on experimental data of the pure matrix was used to predict time and place of failure initiation.     

The role of carbon nanofibers on thermo-mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites and their effect on reduction of residual stresses

In this research, the effects of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on thermo-elastic properties of carbon fiber (CF)/epoxy composite for the reduction of thermal residual stresses (TRS) using micromechanical relations were studied. In the first step, micromechanical models to calculate the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and Young's modulus of CNF/epoxy and CNF/CF/epoxy nanocomposites were developed and compared with experimental results of the other researchers. The obtained results of the CTE and Young's modulus of modified Schapery and Halpin-Tsai theories have good agreement with the experimental results. In the second step, the classical lamination theory (CLT) was employed to determine the TRS for CNF/CF/epoxy laminated nanocomposites. Also, the theoretical results of the CLT were compared with experimental results. Finally, reduction of the TRS using the CLT for different lay-ups such as cross ply, angle ply, and quasi-isotropic laminates were obtained. The results demonstrated that the addition of 1% weight fraction of CNF can reduce the TRS that the most reduction occurred in the unsymmetric cross-ply laminate by up to 27%.     

Effect of interface debonding on the thermal conductivity of microencapsulated-paraffin filled epoxy matrix composites

Microcapsules containing phase change materials (microPCMs) can be filled in polymeric matrix forming smart temperature-controlling composites. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of interface debonding on the thermal conductivity of microPCMs containing paraffin/epoxy composites. The shell thickness and average size of microPCMs were controlled by regulating the core/shell ratios and emulsion stirring rates. Test results indicated that the thermal conductivity (K_e) of all composites decreased after a thermal shock treatment. SEM and thermography measurements were applied to observe the interface behaviors of composites after a violent thermal treatment process. It was proved that the interface debonding was generated because of the mismatch of expansion coefficient between shell and epoxy. A modeling analysis of the relative thermal conductivity (K_r) indicated that the effective approach to decrease the debonding is to enhance the molecule tangling degree between shell and matrix.     

Illustrations of a microdamage model for laminates under oxidizing thermal cycling

Degradations initiated near the edges of a laminate can have a significant effect on its state of degradation, even at the core. Indeed, results from the literature show that laminates which have the same stress state at the core can have completely different states of degradation, even far away from the edges. The paper discusses the influence of the edge effect on damage initiation and propagation for a specific example. A computational micromechanical approach to the degradation of laminated composites was developed recently at LMT-Cachan. This is a hybrid approach in which, depending on the scale, the mechanisms are described using continuous damage mechanics or finite fracture mechanics. Initially developed for static loading, this technique is being extended to fatigue and environmental effects. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the capability of such an approach to take into account major observations during cyclic loading in an oxidizing atmosphere, even when edge effects are significant.     

Impact and compression after impact experimental study of a composite laminate with a cork thermal shield

The aim of this paper is to present an experimental study of impact and compression after impact (CAI) tests performed on composite laminate covered with a cork thermal shield (TS) intended for launchers fairing. Drop weight impact tests have been performed on composite laminate sheets with and without TS in order to study its effect on the impact damage. The results show the TS is a good mechanical protection towards impact as well as a good impact revealing material. Nevertheless, totally different damage morphology is obtained during the impact test with or without TS, and in particular at high impact energy, the delaminated area is larger with TS. Afterwards, CAI tests have been performed in order to evaluate the TS effect on the residual strength. The TS appears to increase the residual strength for a same impact energy, but at the same time, it presents a decrease in residual strength before observing delamination. In fact, during the impact tests with TS, invisible fibres’ breakages appear before delamination damage contrary to the impacts on the unshielded sheets.     

An experimental study on the effects of matrix cracking to the stiffness of glass/epoxy cross plied laminates

Three independent measurement techniques are applied to characterize glass fiber laminates. The effects of distributed fatigue damage to the stiffness related behavior of cross plied laminates are quantified. Tensile and flexural stiffness reduction is obtained from quasi-static testing. Vibration testing shows the degradation of flexural and in-plane shear stiffnesses. The reduction of the phase velocity of symmetric S₀ mode is observed from the experimental dispersion curves of Lamb waves. However, the mutual agreement of these results is less satisfactory than was earlier seen for virgin laminates. The phenomena causing the discrepancies are proposed and discussed.     

Molecular statistical thermodynamics - A distinct and efficient numerical approach to quasi-static analysis of nanomaterials at finite temperature

This paper briefly reviews a distinct and efficient numerical approach to quasi-static analysis of nanomaterials at finite temperature: molecular statistical thermodynamics (MST), especially its various applications and efficiency. Different from molecular dynamics (MD) based on Newton equations, MST is a half-analytical numerical method based on the minimization of Helmholtz free energy. The applications of MST to compression of nanorods, nanoindentations and tension of nanowires show that MST is capable of characterizing the nucleation, propagation and interaction of dislocations as well as phase transformations involved in quasi-static deformations. Not only the mechanical responses and properties calculated with MST are in agreement with MD simulations, but the size effect of Young’s modulus of zinc oxide nanowires calculated with MST are also in good consistency with experimental results. All these results justify the reliability of MST. Furthermore, the efficiency analysis indicates that MST is dramatically faster than MD for quasi-static processes and is expected to be capable of simulating nanomaterials at larger scales with high efficiency.     

Failure response of fiber-epoxy unidirectional laminate under transverse tensile/compressive loading using finite-volume micromechanics

The transverse damage initiation and extension of a unidirectional laminated composite under transverse tensile/compressive loading are evaluated by means of Representative Volume Element (RVE) presented in this paper based on an advanced homogenization model called finite-volume direct averaging micromechanics (FVDAM) theory. Fiber, fiber-matrix interface and matrix phases are considered within the RVE in determining fiber-matrix interface debonding and matrix cracking. The simulated fracture patterns are shown to be in good agreement with experimental observations.     

A combined experimental and numerical study of the behaviour of paperboard composites up to failure

Paperboard composites have been subjected to non-conventional inflation experiments using a novel instrumentation inspired by burst strength testers. The purpose is to understand the behaviour up to failure of strongly anisotropic and heterogeneous material samples under the loading condition more commonly experienced for instance by beverage packaging. The information collected by the exploited prototype equipment has been interpreted at the light of validated numerical models of the performed tests.     

Energy-based delamination theory for biaxial loading in the presence of thermal stresses

This paper addresses the issue of using energy balance methods and crack closure concepts to predict the growth of delaminations associated with ply cracks during the progressive loading of cross-ply laminates subject to a combination of in-plane biaxial stresses and thermal residual stresses. When the effective applied stresses and the temperature are held fixed during delamination growth, and there is negligible interaction of the delamination tips with the ply cracks, very simple analytical formulae for the energy release rate can be derived for unconstrained and generalised plane strain conditions, which are exact when the ply crack separation tends to infinity.     

Compressive failure of laminates containing an embedded wrinkle; experimental and numerical study

An experimental and numerical study has been carried out to understand and predict the compressive failure performance of quasi-isotropic carbon–epoxy laminates with out-of-plane wrinkle defects. Test coupons with artificially induced fibre-wrinkling of varied severity were manufactured and tested. The wrinkles were seen to significantly reduce the pristine compressive strength of the laminates. High-speed video of the gauge section was taken during the test, which showed extensive damage localisation in the wrinkle region. 3D finite element (FE) simulations were carried out in Abaqus/Explicit with continuum damage and cohesive zone models incorporated to predict failure. The FE analyses captured the locations of damage and failure stress levels very well for a range of different wrinkle configurations. At lower wrinkle severities, the analyses predicted a failure mode of compressive fibre-failure, which changed to delamination at higher wrinkle angles. This was confirmed by the tests.     

Tensile failure of laminates containing an embedded wrinkle; numerical and experimental study

The failure of a quasi-isotropic composite laminate containing an embedded out-of-plane fibre wrinkle defect was investigated under tension loading. Laboratory test specimens with controlled severity of fibre waviness were manufactured. Along with recording load–displacement data, high resolution camera images were taken at regular intervals which monitored the initiation and interaction of different damage mechanisms during test. Three-dimensional FE models were built following the geometry of actual test specimens. The information obtained from the tests was used to develop user material subroutines, implemented in Abaqus/Explicit as continuum damage and cohesive zone models for intra- and inter-ply failure respectively. The results of the simulations showed very good correlation with test observations in terms of failure load, location of damage initiation and interaction between different damage mechanisms for a range of waviness cases tested.     

The influence of thermal residual stresses and thermal generated dislocation on the mechanical response of particulate-reinforced metal matrix nanocomposites

Due to thermal expansion mismatch between reinforcing particles and matrix, thermal induced dislocations are generated in metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs) during cooling down from the processing temperature. These dislocations have been identified as an important strengthening mechanism in particulate-reinforced MMNCs. In this study, the development of thermal residual stresses and thermal induced dislocations in MMNCs are predicted using discrete dislocation simulation, assuming the whole material is under uniform temperature change. Shear deformation is applied after the composites are cooled down to room temperature and the influence of thermal residual stresses and thermal generated dislocation on the overall response of particulate-reinforced MMNCs are investigated. The results show that the thermal residual stresses are high enough to generate dislocations and the dislocation density is higher in the interfacial region than the rest of the matrix. The predicted mechanical behavior of the MMNCs matches the experimental results better when thermal residual stresses are included in the simulations.     

A numerical study of the influence from architecture on the permeability of 3D-woven fibre reinforcement

Various modelling aspects of the permeability of three-dimensional (3D) woven textile preforms are studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The models are built using a recently developed technique able to generate close to authentic representations of 3D textile arrangements. One objective of the study is to investigate how parameters such as the tow architecture and the level of detail in the CFD models influence the results. A second objective is to investigate how the inter and intra-tow porosity affect the permeability. They are varied in a way that somewhat resembles how they would change during compaction, although compaction as such is not modelled. It is concluded that the intra-tow porosity has little effect on the overall permeability of a 3D-woven preform. Detailed modelling of local variation of the intra-tow porosity is thus redundant, which is also demonstrated. The inter-tow porosity, on the other hand, has a prominent influence on the overall permeability. The overall permeability is inherently anisotropic but when the inter-tow porosity is increased the permeability does not increase uniformly but becomes more isotropic. Good agreement is obtained between the numerical simulations and experiments performed in a parallel study.     

Microscopic failure mechanisms of fiber-reinforced polymer composites under transverse tension and compression

The mechanical behavior of unidirectional fiber-reinforced polymer composites subjected to tension and compression perpendicular to the fibers is studied using computational micromechanics. The representative volume element of the composite microstructure with random fiber distribution is generated, and the two dominant damage mechanisms experimentally observed – matrix plastic deformation and interfacial debonding – are included in the simulation by the extended Drucker–Prager model and cohesive zone model respectively. Progressive failure procedure for both the matrix and interface is incorporated in the simulation, and ductile criterion is used to predict the damage initiation of the matrix taking into account its sensitivity to triaxial stress state. The simulation results clearly reveal the damage process of the composites and the interactions of different damage mechanisms. It can be concluded that the tension fracture initiates as interfacial debonding and evolves as a result of interactions between interfacial debonding and matrix plastic deformation, while the compression failure is dominated by matrix plastic damage. And then the effects of interfacial properties on the damage behavior of the composites are assessed. It is found that the interfacial stiffness and fracture energy have relatively smaller influence on the mechanical behavior of composites, while the influence of interfacial strength is significant.