A novel statistical model for predicting matrix cracking in high temperature polymer composite laminates

This paper studied the progressive matrix cracking in high temperature polymer composite laminates that could be used for next generation high speed transport airframe structures and aircraft engine components exposed to elevated temperatures. Damage mechanisms of matrix cracking were identified by X-ray radiography at room temperature and in-test photography technique at high temperature. It was found that the non-deterministic scenario is always involved in the procedure of transverse matrix cracking. Monte Carlo simulations using experimentally obtained materials properties were applied to simulate the multiple transverse cracking and compared with the experiment data. Finally, a novel statistical model combining Weibull theory with shear lag model was proposed to predict the matrix cracking based upon the previously obtained probability density function of crack spacing. It is shown that the predictions of this statistical model agree well with the experimental results and can be used to have an in-depth understanding of the random matrix cracking problem in composite laminates.