Using Abaqus/XFEM for progressive damage simulation of laminated composites featuring manufacturing imperfection
Sprache des Vortragstitels:
Englisch
Original Tagungtitel:
Simulatia Austria Regional User Meeting 2015
Sprache des Tagungstitel:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
Accurate prediction of progressive damage in laminated Fiber reinforced Polymers (FRP) is very important if damage tolerance of the composite structures is of interest. However, due to the complex damage behavior of this class of materials (for example, multiple coupled damage mechanisms), the simulation task is not trivial. On top of this, the properties and performances of the laminated omposite can be adversely affected by the manufacturing process; manufacturing imperfections exist inside of the material, and very often the accepted extent of such imperfections is the result of a performance-cost trade-off. In this situation, understanding the effect of such imperfections on the mechanical properties of the materials is crucial.
Specific predictive tools have been implemented into Abaqus to deal with progressive damage simulation in composites. The Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) based stress softening model (Hashin damage) exists for intra-laminar damage, while the inter-laminar damage (delamination) is dealt with by the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) and Cohesive Zone Modelling (CZM), which are based on Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) principles, and combination of
LEFM with CDM, respectively.
The present work investigates the possibilities of using another powerful tool for progressive damage simulation of FRP composites, namely the Extended Finite Element Method (X-FEM). Although the current Abaqus implementation is not specifically meant to deal with the orthotropic FRP laminates, the X-FEM can still be used for this class of materials, as an alternative method to dedicated tools
for composites. The limitations and the level of applicability of the method are evaluated. Moreover, the effect of a specific class of manufacturing imperfections (namely, the out-of-plane fiber waviness) and the most challenging loading case for this kind of imperfection (namely, quasi-static compressive loading) are considered for the present study.
Forschungs-