Abstract
This paper follows on from part III (Llobet et al., 2020) where a mesoscale continuum damage mechanics (CDM) model for composite laminates under static and fatigue loads has been presented. An experimental investigation on the damage occurrence and the strength of carbon/epoxy notched laminates subjected to static, tension-tension fatigue and residual strength tests is provided. X-ray inspections reveal that matrix cracking, longitudinal splitting and delamination control the fatigue degradation process. This paper presents a coupled computational model to account for intralaminar damage using the CDM model and interlaminar damage using a cohesive zone model (CZM). The capability of the computational model to capture the main fatigue degradation mechanisms and the residual strength is examined by simulating open-hole and double-edge notched specimens. The numerical predictions show that the main fatigue degradation mechanisms are well captured as well as the post-fatigue residual strengths except for the open-hole specimen. Further experimental and modelling work are required to develop a more reliable computational tool for quantitative evaluation of fatigue and damage tolerance of composite structures.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 103686 |
Journal | Mechanics of Materials |
Volume | 154 |
ISSN | 0167-6636 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Government through the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades under the contracts RTC-2014-1958-4 and RTI 2018-097880-B-I00 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Cohesive zone models
- Continuum damage mechanics
- Fatigue
- Residual strength