MSF780 : FRACTURE MACHANICS

Journal Article discussion

Cohesive fracture modeling of crack

growth in thick section composite

JA Besuidenhout
u20704977
Lecture: Prof H Inglis

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INDEX

1. Article Summary
 Context
 Objectives
 Key results
 Conclusion

2. Significance of the paper

 To the research field
 To my work

3. Knowledge obtained

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CONTEXT

 Limited attention has been paid to fracture and crack-like flaws in

thick-section composites (TSC) , usually larger then 6 mm.

 Most of the approaches have been advocating for delaminating or

interlaminar fractures in thin laminated composites.

 Non linear material responses were not considered as a possibility.

 Several stress based failure criteria were proposed to determine

the strength of notched composited even though its not capable of
modeling complete fracture response.

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CONTEXT

 Better predictions was found using damaged zones models due to

the usage of a linear relationship between the cohesive stresses
and crack opening within this zone.

 The mode-I fracture process for small yielding under plain strain
can be characterized using a computational cohesive zone model.

 The peak stress in the cohesive model was reduced by accounting

for the plastic straining ahead of the crack tip.

 A cohesive model can use six material depended parameters to

describe the constitute behavior in the cohesive zone.

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OBJECTIVES

 To present a combined method for modeling mode-I and II crack

growth behavior in thick-sectioned fiber reinforced polymer (FRP)
composites having nonlinear material properties.

 To use integrated micromechanical and cohesive finite element

(FE) to simulate crack growth.

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KEY RESULTS

 Structural and material responses including failure loads and crack

growth can in thick sections can be predicted.

 Composites will exhibit nonlinear material behavior that becomes

more pronounced in shear or multi axial loading.

 Axial and transverse directions can affect the failure load and crack
growth behavior.

 The cohesive layer does not directly account for softening

associated with the fiber pullout or brakeage ahead of the crack tip.

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CONCLUSION

 An integrated micromechanical and cohesive FE modeling

approach is proposed to analysis thick section FRP composites.

 Butterfly specimens calibrate and verify the prediction of the

proposed models.

 In mode-I specimens limited crack growth occur prior to peak loads.

 In mode-II the crack growth is more rapid ,reflecting the need to

reduce release time

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RESEARCH FIELD
SIGNIFICANCE
 The effect of nonlinearity is captured by using 3D micromechanical
models.

 The proposed computational fracture analysis (CFA) framework can

predict failure loads with crack like defects.

 The proposed CFA framework can predict the post –peak load
behavior when self similar crack growth prevail.

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SIGNIFICANCE TO MY WORK

 Shift in focus from thin light weight composite parts to thicker

composite part.

 Complex composite part with varying thicknesses can be

simulated using the cohesive models.

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KNOWLEDGE OBTAINED

 Plane strain 2D models can be used to for crack growth simulation.

 3D micro models can be integrated with 2D FE models to provide

for the effective nonlinear response of TSC

 The orientation of the fibers plays an important role in the fracture

response for mode–I fractures.

 The orientation of the fiber are not important for mode-II fracture
because the failure is controlled by the shear failure on the
continuous filament mats (CFA) layers.

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Thank You

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