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Finite Element Analysis PDF
Finite Element Analysis PDF
Composites: Part A
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesa
An approach for dealing with high local stresses in nite element analyses
F. Hlnon *, M.R. Wisnom, S.R. Hallett, G. Allegri
Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science, University of Bristol, Queens Building, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TR, UK
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 2 November 2009
Received in revised form 5 March 2010
Accepted 16 April 2010
Keywords:
C. Finite element analysis (FEA)
A. Laminates
B. Stress concentrations
B. Delamination
a b s t r a c t
Highly localised through-thickness stress concentrations, higher than the strength of the material, may
occur when a linear elastic nite element analysis of a composite structure is performed. Such stresses
may be caused by real geometrical or material discontinuities or by artefacts in the model. The objective
of this paper is to present a validated approach to determine when these high stresses will not lead to
failure by delamination or matrix cracking and can therefore be ignored. Named as the High Stress Concentration (HSC) method, the approach presented in this paper is found to provide good results when
applied to several nite element analyses, and is also in agreement with experimental data.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
This work addresses the interpretation of nite element analysis results for complex structural components. One of the fundamental issues in post-processing data from nite element
analyses is dealing with very high localised stress concentrations
that sometimes arise, see Fig. 1. Are they real, potentially leading
to failure, or do they represent a modelling artefact due, for example, to simplications introduced at the meshing stage? This problem is particularly relevant for complex geometries and material
arrangements in large models. Whenever it is difcult to represent
ne details at a global level, simplifying assumptions must be
adopted. These simplications may lead to highly localised stresses
even for relatively coarse meshes.
Examples of stress concentrations due to simplied geometrical
models include those arising when local curvature radii are neglected and step changes are introduced into the mesh [13].
Material property induced stress concentrations may also occur
when the representative scale adopted in the model is much larger
than the one featuring the change in mechanical properties so that
smooth transitions in the values of the elastic properties are modelled by abrupt changes. A typical case is represented by bre orientations in the corners of composite parts [4]. Such material
property induced stress concentrations also occur at the free lateral
surface of laminated composites due to the well-known free edge
or free corner effect [57]. They are very important as the through
thickness stresses are strongly inuenced by the stacking sequence
[8] and the material property mismatch (coefcient of mutual
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 117 331 5325; fax: +44 117 927 2771.
E-mail address: Fabrice.Helenon@bristol.ac.uk (F. Hlnon).
1359-835X/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2010.04.014
1157
120
Stress [MPa]
110
High localised
stress
concentration
100
90
80
70
60
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Distance [mm]
Fig. 1. Example of nite element stress distribution with high localised stresses (stress values picked-up along distance AB).
Therefore, pure mode I loading is dened locally when the inter-laminar shear stress, s, is zero and the normal through-thickness stress r is positive; pure mode II loading will be dened
locally when the normal through-thickness stress, r, is zero or
compressive. A stress tensor providing both r > 0 and s 0 will
give a local mixed-mode loading condition.
2.2. Stress eld ahead of a crack tip
According to linear elastic fracture mechanics theory and based
on the local axes drawn in Fig. 2, the relevant singular stress eld
ahead of a crack tip within an orthotropic material is given by
[3,2022]:
2. Background theory
2.1. Assumptions
where r is the distance from the inter-laminar crack tip, KI and KII
are respectively the mode I and mode II stress intensity factors
dening the crack tip singularity, and r and s are the normal stress
and shear stress components in the xz plane. In the terms
RI(h, l1, l2) and RII(h, l1, l2) which are dened explicitly in
[19,2123], the angle h is given from the x-axis in the x z plane
and the dimensionless parameters l1 and l2 are the complex
I
II
RI h; l1 ; l2 and s p RII h; l1 ; l2
r p
2p r
2pr
y
x
Fig. 2. (a) Crack included into a layer. (b) Mode I surface displacements. (c) Mode II surface displacements.
1158
conjugate pair roots of the characteristic equation that may be written for plane stress as:
1 4
1
2mxz 2 1
l
l 0
Ex
Gxz
Ez
Ex
Ic
IIc
and sc p
rc p
2pr
2pr
where respectively rc and sc are the critical normal and shear stresses. Both equations will be used for dening the critical curves in
the HSC method.
2.3. Relationship between the energy release rate and the stress
intensity factor
The coefcients aI and aII are dened according to the mode, the
conguration and the material. For plane stress conditions they
are:
rr
1=2
a11 a33
a33 2a13 a55
2
a11
2a11
r
1=2
a
a33 2a13 a55
aII p11
a11
2a11
2
aI
and
5
where the aij coefcients are the components of the compliance matrix [a] that relates strains {e} to stresses {r} via {e} = [a]{r} i.e.
a11 = 1/Ex, a22 = 1/Ey, a33 = 1/Ez, a12 = mxy/Ex, a32 = mzy/Ez, a13 =
mxz/Ex and a55 = 1/Gxz.
2.4. Denition of the equivalent stress
A pure mode I or mode II condition that enables a crack to propagate usually only occurs in particular loading conditions at the
boundary of the structure. Generally, a crack is subject to mixedmode loading conditions. It is therefore necessary to account for
this mode-mixity to predict the delamination propagation. Several
empirical laws allow accounting for this combination [3,25]. One of
them is the simple and widely-used power-law energetic mixedmode fracture criterion [17,18]:
GI
GIc
n
GII
GIIc
n
P1
2n
n 2n
K 2n
I g K II P K Ic
with g
in which GI and GII are the energy release rates for mode I and mode
II respectively and GIc and GIIc are their corresponding critical values
Substituting Eqs. (1), (3), and (5) into the stress intensity factors
from Eq. (7), one obtains:
1
GIc
GIIc
s
Ez
Ex
11 b
a
4
1 cos4 b
1
2mxy
sin b
2
sin b cos2 b
Ex
Gxy
Ey
Ex
Ex
z=z
crack
GIc aII
GIIc aI
According to the crack closure analysis initially provided by Irwin [24], the energy release rate can be given as a function of the
stress intensity factor using the following relations for mode I and
mode II [3,2022]:
GI aI K 2I
which are material properties measured experimentally [20]. Reorganising the different terms and introducing Eq. (4) into this Eq. (6),
it follows:
crack
x
x
9a
1159
13 b
a
33 b
a
55 b
a
mxz
Ex
mxz
Ex
cos2 b
myz
Ey
sin b
9b
1
1
Ez Ez
1
Gxz
9c
2
cos2 b sin b
Gxz
Gyz
9d
Ex b
cos4 b
Ex
1
Gxy
2mxy
Ex
1
cos2
b sin b
10
sin4 b
Ey
Case 2 :
Stresses may
NOT be ignored
Case 1 :
Stress
Stresses may
be ignored
Distance
Fig. 4. Principle of the HSC method for a pure mode I or mode II loading problem.
stress concentration with the mode I critical stress curve rc(r) dened in Eq. (3), see Fig. 2. In the vicinity of the high localised stress
concentration, failure occurs if:
ksF:E: k P sc
12
Any other case that does not meet the criterion given in Eqs.
(11) or (12) leads to a nite element localised stress concentration
that may not be safely ignored. In such a condition, this means that
a crack may initiate and propagate unstably from where the high
localised stress concentration has been observed.
3.2. Validation using a unidirectional ply specimen with cut central
plies
To illustrate and validate the applicability of the method in pure
Mode II loading, a unidirectional glass bre/epoxy test specimen
with cut central plies across its full width in pure tension is considered, see Fig. 5 [2931]. The design with discontinuous plies leads
to an inter-laminar shear stress concentration near the cut plies.
Very high values above the strength of the material are generated
even at low loads, which could in fact be safely ignored since they
do not lead to immediate failure. However these stresses do lead to
delamination once a critical load is reached. The normal stresses
near the cut are compressive except at the extremity of the cut
plies. Therefore this test can be considered to be a pure mode II
case.
The typical material properties are given in Table 1. To simulate
this specimen by the nite element method, a 2D analysis of a slice
through the thickness was carried out in-plane stress. The mesh
was built with Abaqus/CAE using fully integrated quadratic elements of type CPS8. Due to the presence of planes of symmetry,
only a quarter-model was used. Four different meshes were built
to assess the inuence of renement when applying the HSC method close to the cut where high stress gradients were expected. For
each mesh, respectively 1, 2, 4 and 8 elements per ply thickness,
being 0.127 mm thick, were used. In the longitudinal direction,
the region near the cut was subdivided into elements 125, 62.5,
Table 1
Thermo-elastic properties of E-Glass/913 epoxy.
E1 = 43.9 GPa
E2 = 15.4 GPa
E3 = 15.4 GPa
m23 = 0.45
m13 = 0.30
m12 = 0.30
20 0
10
11
50
4 continuous plies
2 cut plies
4 continuous plies
1160
500
Mesh No.1
Mesh No.2
Mesh No.3
400
Mesh No.4
Mode II critical curve
Shear strength
300
200
100
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Distance (mm)
Fig. 6. Finite element curves from mesh No. 1 (coarse) to mesh No. 4 (rened)
for a 744 MPa applied gross section stress versus the critical shear stress curve.
and both stress components rF.E. and sF.E. occuring at the stress
concentration. To account for the interaction between both these
stresses, the equivalent stress introduced in Eq. (8) is used. For
n = 1, the mode I equivalent nite element stress may be written
as:
req
q
GIc
MaxrF:E: ; 02 gksF:E: k2 with g
GIIc
4 cut plies
R8
R10
R6
R10
60
13
It predicts inter-laminar failure once the contribution of the nite element normal and shear stress components generate a mode
I equivalent stress which is higher than or equal to the mode I critical stress of a crack on the point of propagating within the material considered. Therefore, applying the HSC methodology, the plot
of the mode I equivalent nite element curve gives one of the two
cases highlighted in Fig. 4.
4 cut plies
R10
s
Ez
Ex
R10
120
Fig. 7. Curved beam specimen dimensions (mm) and location of the upper and lower interfaces subjected to delamination.
1161
Stress (MPa)
500
Mesh No.2
Mesh No.3
400
Mesh No.4
300
Mesh No.5
Critical curve
200
100
rc p min K matA
; K matB
Ic
Ic
2pr
14
q
MaxrF:E: ; 02 gksF:E: k2 where
s
s!
GmatA
EmatA
GmatB
EmatB
Ic
Ic
z
z
; matB
g Max matA
min matB
min matA
GIIc
GIIc
Ex
Ex
req
15
The material strength line to be plotted is the one from the lower material transverse tensile strength between matA and matB.
For an off-axis direction different from any axis of orthotropy,
the same approach presented in Section 2.5 holds.
5.2. Validation using a (45/0/90)S quasi-isotropic plate
The case chosen for demonstrating the applicability of the HSC
method at a bi-material interface is a (45/0/90)S quasi-isotropic
plate loaded in pure tension whose lay-up and dimensions are given in Fig. 9. It is made of HTA/922, a carbon/epoxy prepreg, whose
typical material properties are given in Table 2. Its length L is such
that the thickness and the width are negligible in comparison. Each
ply is nominally 0.125 mm thick. Under such conditions, it is possible to model a slice of the plate assuming generalised plane
strain, see Fig. 9, accounting for the half thickness because of the
symmetry. Provided that the 45 plies are modelled by using an
equivalent orthotropic material, so-called here Equiv45, a plane
of symmetry can also be introduced across the width. Failure occurred by delamination between the 0 and the 90 plies once
the experimentally measured overall longitudinal deformation,
exx, reached 0.75% [48].
Four different nite element meshes of the slice were built with
Abaqus/CAE by using fully integrated elements of type C3D20 to
investigate its inuence when applying the proposed HSC method
to assess the criticality of the high stresses at the 0/90 bi-material
interface. One element per ply was used, but the free edge was
0
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
Distance (mm)
Table 2
Thermo-elastic properties of HTA/922.
E1 = 140.77 GPa
E2 = 8.85 GPa
E3 = 8.85 GPa
Plane of symmetry
m23 = 0.43
m13 = 0.28
m12 = 0.28
Plane of symmetry
20 mm
+ 45
- 45
Equiv45
0
1 mm
90
0.1 mm
x
Fig. 9. Illustration of the considered generalised plane strain geometric approach.
1162
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
-20
Mesh No.1
Mesh No.2
Mesh No.3
Mesh No.4
60
50
TauYZ (MPa)
SigZZ (MPa)
40
30
Mesh No.1
Mesh No.2
Mesh No.3
Mesh No.4
20
10
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0.2
Distance (mm)
0.4
0.6
0.8
Distance (mm)
Fig. 10. Stress distributions from mesh No. 1 (coarse) to mesh No. 4 (ner) at the 0/90 interface starting from the free edge. (a) Through-thickness stress distribution (SigZZ).
(b) Through thickness shear stress distribution (SigYZ).
more rened with respectively for each mesh 3, 4, 7 and 8 elements per ply because of the high stress gradients expected in this
zone due to the free edge effect [5,7]. The element size across the
width was for each mesh respectively 83, 40, 20 and 10 lm near
to the edge. Symmetric boundary conditions were applied at the
bottom and on the centre of the slice model. The nodes on the left
hand side plane are constrained in the x-direction whilst MPCs
were applied on the opposite right hand side plane to model the
generalised plane strain condition. After analysing the model by
the nite element method, it was found that the most critical stress
tensor components were both the through-thickness stress rzz and
the inter-laminar shear stress syz in the neighbourhood of the free
edge at the 0/90 interface for a uniform 402 MPa applied tensile
stress rxx corresponding to the 0.75% strain measured at failure,
see Fig. 10.
To apply the HSC method, the critical curve has to be plotted.
The typical fracture toughness values to be used are GIc = 0.15 N/
mm and GIIc = 0.51 N/mm for the material considered. By computing the critical stress intensity factors KIc for both the 0 and the
90 plies it is found that the 0 ply gives the lowest critical curve,
see Fig. 11. By combining the picked-up stresses into equivalent
stresses at each point of the selected inter-laminar line from the
free edge, it is found that the material properties from the 0 ply
give the highest nite element curves. This was as expected since
the ratio aII/aI = Ez/Ex, see Eq. (11), is equal to 1 which is higher
than the one for an orthotropic material where Ex > Ez. In contrast
to the maximum stress at the free edge it was found that a converged solution is obtained with mesh renement if one considers
the intersection point between the critical curve and the material
strength line. This is achieved by the level of renement shown
in mesh 4. This nite element curve is found to be 8.3% below this
intersection point (distance: 0.05 mm) which can still be considered a reasonably accurate result, especially considering the engineering nature of the HSC method. It is perhaps also important to
recall that the fracture toughness values used were measured from
a unidirectional HTA/922 specimen whereas here they have been
applied to a bi-material interface. It has been shown [26] that fracture toughness values may indeed vary from unidirectional results
at bi-material interfaces. As with previous examples shown, it can
be seen that the level of conservatism increases with a less rened
mesh for the assessment of the high free edge stresses at a bimaterial interface.
6. Conclusion
A methodology allowing the assessment of the criticality of high
localised stress concentrations in linear elastic nite element analyses has been dened. Based on linear fracture mechanics theory
for orthotropic materials, it aims to help stress engineers design
complex composite structural components by identifying when
high inter-laminar stresses in a nite element analysis can be
safely ignored. Applications to some nite element test cases have
proved the approach to give very good results. Mode II was validated by using a unidirectional specimen with cut central plies
loaded in tension and mixed-mode was validated by using a unidirectional curved beam specimen with cut plies under a four-point
bending load. The extension to the case of a high localised stress
occurring at a bi-material interface gave satisfactory results validated by using a (45/0/90)S quasi-isotropic plate in tension.
The next step is to present an extension of the HSC method to
fatigue loading.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge Rolls-Royce Plc for their
support of this research.
Stress (MPa)
References
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Mesh No.1
Mesh No.2
Mesh No.3
Mesh No.4
Critical curve
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
Distance (mm)
Fig. 11. Comparison between the critical curves from mesh No. 1 (coarse) to mesh
No. 4 (ner) and the mode I equivalent nite element curve for a 402 MPa applied
tensile stress.
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