Peridynamic modeling of toughening enhancement in unidirectional fiber-reinforced composites with micro-cracks

Basoglu, Muhammed Fatih and Kefal, Adnan and Zerin, Zihni and Oterkus, Erkan (2022) Peridynamic modeling of toughening enhancement in unidirectional fiber-reinforced composites with micro-cracks. Composite Structures, 297. 115950. ISSN 0263-8223 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2022.115950)

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Abstract

The matrix component of composite structures is generally brittle. In any damage occurrence, fracture propagates rapidly through the structure. This study proposes a novel toughening enhancement model for unidirectional (UD) composites to overcome these damage-propagation issues. The toughening mechanism is established by introducing the so-called micro defects/cracks for increasing the toughness of the matrix constituent of the composite structure. Mechanical simulations are performed utilizing a non-local continuum formulation known as Peridynamics (PD). The PD formulation facilitates modeling material discontinuities such as complex crack/defect formations with arbitrary size, orientation, and location features in composite structures. Here, the toughening enhancement models are established by allocating various micro-crack formations in three different fiber orientations (0°, 45°, 90°) of UD composite plates. The toughening effects of micro-crack clusters are thoroughly analyzed by making comprehensive comparisons of the propagation speed of an initially introduced macro-crack and its tip strain energy density. As a result, various micro-crack distributions are established to provide an augmented toughness to the brittle composite materials, and their key features are assessed in detail.

ORCID iDs

Basoglu, Muhammed Fatih, Kefal, Adnan, Zerin, Zihni and Oterkus, Erkan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4614-7214;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)