Damage Initiation in Unidirectional Fiber Reinforced Polymeric Composites Under Shear Loading

Copyright (2017) by DEStech Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. This work studies the initiation of the first failure event in unidirectional composites subjected to axial (longitudinal) shear loading. Two failure modes are investigated, depending on whether the dilatational or the distortional component of the strain energy density reaches its threshold. The nonuniform fiber distribution is described in terms of "degree of nonuniformity". This degree of nonuniformity is proposed as a quantitative measure of manufacturing accuracy. The nonuniformity is implemented in a representative volume element (RVE). Several realizations of the RVE for different fiber volume fractions and different degrees of nonuniformity are analyzed using a finite element model. A parametric study is conducted to study the effects of fiber volume fraction, degree of nonuniformity and matrix stiffness on the damage initiation.

Damage Initiation in Unidirectional Fiber Reinforced Polymeric Composites Under Shear Loading Conference Paper