Failure analysis of open-hole tension (OHT), open-hole compression (OHC), and pin-loaded (PL) composite laminates

Abstract

The increasingly high demand placed upon the performance of composite materials is stretching the design envelopes for composite structures ever further. There is a need for more reliable failure theories and damage progression methodologies that will mirror the complex failure mechanisms of composite structures with sufficient fidelity so that reasonable prediction of damage patterns and failure loads can be made. This rather ambitious goal is unlikely to be achieved without extensive computational modeling and analysis. This presentation discusses some recent developments in the modeling and prediction of complex progressive damage in fiber-reinforced composites, principally through the element-failure method (EFM) and strain invariant failure theory (SIFT). Recently, the SIFT-EFM modeling approach has been implemented with commercial finite element software Abaqus through user-defined element subroutines. Encouraging results of damage progression and failure of open-hole tension (OHT), open-hole compression (OHC) and filled-hole (FH) tests are presented.