Progressive failure analysis of CFRP laminate with interacting holes under compressive loading

Abstract

Composite structures such as hull of a ship and wings of aircraft are subjected to compressive loading. The behavior and strength of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) panels subjected to tensile loading has been studied rigorously by various researchers, whereas compressive behavior is not well addressed. In this study, behavior of CFRP panel with multiple interacting holes of various configurations (1H, 2HL, 2HT, and 2HD) under compressive loading is studied. A three-dimensional finite element-based progressive failure analysis (PFA) is used to model the damage progression in CFRP laminates. Damage detection is carried out using both Hashin’s failure and Ye’s-delamination criterions. Using these failure criterions, failure and post failure behavior of CFRP laminate with cutouts are predicted. The material is assumed to behave as linear elastic until final failure. Sudden degradation rule of material property is employed and subsequently PFA is carried out successively. Using digital image correlation (DIC) technique, whole field surface strain is obtained experimentally and is used for validating finite element analysis (FEA) model. Load–deflection behavior as well as path of damage progression is predicted by both PFA simulation and experiment. They are found to be in good agreement thereby confirming the accuracy of PFA implementation. Among all the configurations, one with two holes along the longitudinal direction (2HL) is recommended for design application as it exhibits low stress concentration factor and sustains higher initiation and final failure load.

Experimental investigations on hybrid strengthening of short reinforced concrete column elements under eccentric compression

“…Varying results have been reported for compression modulus of CFRP depending on the fabrication method and fiber content. Typical values of compression modulus range from 85 to 100% of its tension modulus …”

Analysis of damage and interlaminar stresses in laminate plates with interacting holes

“…In the scientific literature, the effect of interacting holes in the in-plane stress concentration factor has been studied, analysing the influence of geometric parameters such as the distance between the holes and the relative radius between the two holes [26][27][28][29][30]. Another geometry parameter that has been studied is the angular position of the holes in relation to the load direction [26,[29][30][31]. Also, the influence of ply orientations and the stacking sequence have been analysed [28,32].…”

“…In compression, fibre microbuckling in the plies orientated at 0°is the governing failure mechanism. Depending on the stacking sequence, fibre microbuckling [26,36] or matrix cracking [31] appear first. Afterwards, the damage in the laminate grows, with a combination of failure modes (fibre and matrix damage that leads to delamination failure).…”

Progressive damage analysis of adhesively bonded patch repaired carbon fibre–reinforced polymer specimen under compression involving cohesive zone model

“…However, in field applications such as wings of aircraft and hull of the ship mostly experience compression under service load. Hence, the behaviour of the composite structure under compressive loading is of greater interest and needs to be thoroughly studied (Khedkar et al., 2015).…”

“…Several researchers have attempted to study the compressive failure of the composite laminate. A considerable amount of experimental and numerical studies (Deng et al., 2017; Guynn and Bradley 1989a, 1989b; Khedkar et al., 2015; Soutis and Fleck, 1990; Soutis et al., 1993; Zhou et al., 2017) have been carried out to investigate the compressive behaviour of the CFC panel with cutout. It has been reported that the failure mechanism in all laminates is mostly due to the micro-buckling in the [0°] plies along with the delamination between off-axis and [0°] plies.…”