PARAMETRIC STUDY OF PROGRESSIVE DAMAGE GROWTH AT THE FIBER/MATRIX SCALE USING COHESIVE ZONE ELEMENTS
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2015 International Committee on Composite Materials. All rights reserved. A random microscale model of a fiber/matrix composite was used to predict the fracture properties to be used at the mesoscale. Cohesive zone elements were placed between every continuum element in the refined meshes. The effects of boundary conditions, RVE size, and microscale fracture properties on the predicted mesoscale properties were considered. Though more complex to implement, periodic boundary conditions were shown to predict more realistic crack paths than a much simpler set of boundary conditions. The RVE size had a significant effect on the predicted strain energy release rate but not the strength. As the RVE size increased, the predicted strain energy release rate increased, seemingly due to the more diffuse damage that can occur in larger RVE's. Since convergence of the critical strain energy release rate was not observed, it is unclear which RVE size is appropriate for microscale fracture analyses. The fiber/matrix interfacial strength has a significant effect on the predicted strength and GIC. When the interface is weaker, most damage occurs along the fiber/matrix interfaces, and an increase of the interfacial strength results in a significant overall improvement of the predicted strength but little effect on the predicted GIC. When the interface is stronger than the matrix, damage occurs both in the matrix and along the fiber/matrix interfaces, and an increase in the interfacial strength results in a moderate increase in predicted strength and GIC.
