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Virtual Testing for the Mechanical Characterization of Cured Polymer Matrix Composites
Abstract
The effect of the curing process on the mechanical response of fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites (PMCs) is studied by performing virtual testing at the microscale. Repeating Unit Cells (RUCs) are analyzed to determine the matrix dominated strengths of a thin lamina. Computational models are built using the Finite Element Method (FEM) within the commercial codes ABAQUS/Standard and ABAQUS/Explicit supplemented by user written subroutines. The curing process and the mechanical response of the RUC are modeled including the onset of damage and subsequent failure assuming that damage can initiate during the cure cycle if the internal stresses exceed prescribed values and that it can subsequently grow in the form of cohesive cracks. The transition from a continuum to damage/failure state is effected by using the Bazant-Oh Crack Band model, which preserves mesh objectivity. Results are presented for a randomly packed RUC which is first subjected to curing and subsequently to mechanical loading in transverse and shear directions.
DOI
10.12783/asc2017/15218
10.12783/asc2017/15218