Abstract Scope |
We present a finite element (FE) - based framework to perform integrated cure and progressive failure analyses of fiber-reinforced polymers. This framework goes beyond the unit cell and is applicable to laminate scales with various layups, geometries and loading cases. Cure residual stresses are calculated using a coupled chemo-thermo-mechanical analysis, where a data-driven CHILE (cure-hardening/ instantaneous linear elastic) constitutive model is used to capture the evolution of the matrix properties (Nguyen, Dmello and Waas, Archive of Applied Mechanics, 2022). After the residual stresses are calculated, a progressive failure analysis step is performed based on the semi-discrete modeling technique (Nguyen and Waas, Composites Part C, 2020). It comprises a smart meshing strategy, a failure separation, a probabilistic modeling approach, and a mesh-objective constitutive model. The enhanced semi-discrete damage model (eSD2M) can capture multiple failure modes and their interactions as well as predict failure loads with reasonable accuracy. |