Progressive failure of notched and repaired composites

Abstract

There is a need to develop more accurate and cost effective damage tolerance assessment analysis methods and efficient repairs as increasingly large unitized composite parts are employed in aircraft structures. This presentation discusses the integration of some of the analytical and computational tools for quantitative damage tolerance assessment of composites based on progressive damage modeling. A range of progressive damage analytical techniques such as the material property degradation method (MPDM) and element-failure method (EFM) with various modern failure theories such as the recently-proposed multi-continuum theory (MCT) and micromechanics-based failure theory (MMF) can provide predictions of initial and ultimate failure of composite structures. Several examples of progressive failure analyses of conventional CFRP and hybrid composite structures with these tools are presented.