Creep Responses of Smart Sandwich Composites at Multiple Length Scales: Experiments and Modeling

Author(s):  
Anaïs Farrugia ◽  
Charles Winkelmann ◽  
Valeria La Saponara ◽  
Jeong Sik Kim ◽  
Anastasia H. Muliana

In service, composite structures present the unique challenge of damage detection and repair. Piezoelectric ceramic, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), is often used for detecting damage in composites. This paper investigates the effect of embedded PZT crystals on the overall creep behavior of sandwich beams comprising of glass fiber reinforced polymer laminated skins and polymer foam core, which could potentially be used as a damage-detecting smart structure. Uniaxial quasi-static and creep tests were performed on the glass/epoxy laminated composites having several fiber orientations, 0 deg, 45 deg, and 90 deg, to calibrate the elastic and viscoelastic properties of the fibers and matrix. Three-point bending creep tests at elevated temperature (80°C) were then carried out for a number of control sandwich beams (no PZT crystal) and conditioned sandwich beams (with PZT crystals embedded in the center of one facesheet). Lateral deflection of the sandwich beams was monitored for more than 60 h. The model presented in this paper is composed by two parts: (a) a simplified micromechanical model of unidirectional fiber reinforced composites used to obtain effective properties and overall creep response of the laminated skins and (b) a finite element method to simulate the overall creep behavior of the sandwich beams with embedded PZT crystals. The simplified micromechanical model is implemented in the material integration points within the laminated skin elements. Fibers are modeled as linear elastic, while a linearized viscoelastic material model is used for the epoxy matrix and foam core. Numerical results on the creep deflection of the smart sandwich beams show good correlations with the experimental creep deflection at 80°C, thus proving that this model, although currently based on material properties reported at room temperature, is promising to obtain a reasonable prediction for the creep of a smart sandwich structure at high temperatures.

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1031-1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Qi He ◽  
Hong-Liang Dai ◽  
Jian Pang ◽  
Liang Yang ◽  
...  

A micromechanical model for short fiber-reinforced composites (SFRCs) with functionally graded interphases and a systematic prediction scheme to determine the effective properties are presented. The matrix and the fibers are regarded to be linear elastic, isotropic, and homogeneous. Fibers are assumed to be ellipsoids coated perfectly by functionally graded interphases, which is supposed to be formed chemically or physically by the constituents near the interface. First, to analyze the grading interphase effect, layer-wise concept is followed to divide the functionally graded interphases into multi-homogeneous sub-layers. Next, to take the effect of functionally graded interphases into account, a combination of multi-inclusion method and Mori–Tanaka method is applied to predict effective elastic properties of this unidirectional SFRCs with respect to the content and aspect ratio of the inclusions. By employing coordinate transformation, spatially elastic moduli are obtained. Finally, Voigt homogenization scheme is used to obtain the overall, averaged, symmetrical elastic properties of the SFRCs. Numerical examples and analyses demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method and indicate the influences of graded interphase, orientation, and aspect ratio of inclusions as well as properties and contents of the constituents on the overall properties of SFRCs.


2004 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. L. Tagarielli ◽  
N. A. Fleck

Plastic collapse modes for clamped sandwich beams have been investigated experimentally and theoretically for the case of aluminium face sheets and a metal foam core. Three initial collapse mechanisms have been identified and explored with the aid of a collapse mechanism map. It is shown that the effect of clamped boundary conditions is to drive the deformation mechanism towards plastic stretching of the face sheets. Consequently, the ultimate strength and level of energy absorption of the sandwich beam are set by the face sheet ductility. Limit load analyses have been performed and simple analytical models have been developed in order to predict the postyield response of the sandwich beams; these predictions are validated by both experiments and finite elements simulations. It is shown experimentally that the ductility of aluminium face sheets is enhanced when the faces are bonded to a metal foam core. Finally, minimum weight configurations for clamped aluminium sandwich beams are obtained using the analytical formulas for sandwich strength, and the optimal designs are compared with those for sandwich beams with composite faces and a polymer foam core.


Author(s):  
Karthick Chandraseker ◽  
Debdutt Patro ◽  
Ajaya Nayak ◽  
Shu Ching Quek ◽  
Chandra S. Yerramalli

Composite material usage in primary load bearing structures has continued to expand in aerospace, auto and wind energy industries. Large composite part thicknesses in some load bearing applications lead to defects during manufacturing. Typically, these defects are in the form of fiber waves, voids and delaminations. It is well known in the composite literature that composite compressive strength is a strong function of fiber alignment, and fiber waviness can cause failure due to fiber microbuckling and kinking or failure by splitting at the fiber/resin interface. A detailed micromechanical analysis of these wavy defects is needed to estimate the strength reductions due to presence of wavy defects in thick uni-directional (UD) laminates. For example, real composite part thicknesses in industrial applications are in the range of 40 mm-60 mm while individual fiber and resin layers are only a few microns in thickness. Hence, micromechanics finite element (FE) models involving individual layers require an enormous number of elements, which, in addition, scales poorly with the part thickness. Earlier studies on the effect of fiber waviness have focused on simplified homogenized models to study the effect of fiber waviness. However, such models cannot resolve local details such as inter-layer stresses that initiate resin yielding. In the present work, two modeling approaches are investigated — (i) a micromechanics approach in which individual fiber and resin layers are explicitly modeled, and (ii) a tow-level approach in which the fiber and resin properties are homogenized to generate effective properties of a tow. It is demonstrated that the two approaches lead to identical predictions of peak load for identical coupon dimensions. It is also shown that the peak compressive load plateaus beyond a certain value of coupon thickness. This information enables the modeling and testing of an actual thick part using a coupon of greatly reduced thickness and hence smaller number of elements in the computational model without compromising on the details afforded by a micromechanical model.


2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 286-307
Author(s):  
Carey F. Childers

Abstract Tires are fabricated using single ply fiber reinforced composite materials, which consist of a set of aligned stiff fibers of steel material embedded in a softer matrix of rubber material. The main goal is to develop a mathematical model to determine the local stress and strain fields for this isotropic fiber and matrix separated by a linearly graded transition zone. This model will then yield expressions for the internal stress and strain fields surrounding a single fiber. The fields will be obtained when radial, axial, and shear loads are applied. The composite is then homogenized to determine its effective mechanical properties—elastic moduli, Poisson ratios, and shear moduli. The model allows for analysis of how composites interact in order to design composites which gain full advantage of their properties.


Technologies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Federico J. Sabina ◽  
Yoanh Espinosa-Almeyda ◽  
Raúl Guinovart-Díaz ◽  
Reinaldo Rodríguez-Ramos ◽  
Héctor Camacho-Montes

The development of micromechanical models to predict the effective properties of multiphase composites is important for the design and optimization of new materials, as well as to improve our understanding about the structure–properties relationship. In this work, the two-scale asymptotic homogenization method (AHM) is implemented to calculate the out-of-plane effective complex-value properties of periodic three-phase elastic fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) with parallelogram unit cells. Matrix and inclusions materials have complex-valued properties. Closed analytical expressions for the local problems and the out-of-plane shear effective coefficients are given. The solution of the homogenized local problems is found using potential theory. Numerical results are reported and comparisons with data reported in the literature are shown. Good agreements are obtained. In addition, the effects of fiber volume fractions and spatial fiber distribution on the complex effective elastic properties are analyzed. An analysis of the shear effective properties enhancement is also studied for three-phase FRCs.


Author(s):  
Francisco Maciel Monticeli ◽  
Ana Karoline dos Reis ◽  
Roberta Motta Neves ◽  
Luis Felipe de Paula Santos ◽  
Edson Cocchieri Botelho ◽  
...  

The thermoplastic and thermoset laminates reinforced with different fibers generate variations in the laminated composite mechanical behavior. This work aims to analyze thermoplastic and thermoset composites creep behavior with a reduced number of experiments, applying curve-fitting analytical models (Weibull and Findley) and statistical approach (ANOVA, F-test, and SRM) in order to describe creep behavior. Creep tests were carried out using a design of experiments to define parameter levels, aiming to reduce the number of the experiments, keeping reliability relevance. The temperature shows a stronger influence of creep deformation compared with the use of distinct materials. Thermoplastic matrices seem to be more sensitive to deformation, decreasing the reinforcement contribution. On the other hand, the creep resistance of the thermoset matrix conducts a significant contribution of strain behavior for the reinforcement used. The Findley model showed a temperature-dependent response. While, the Weibull-based model exhibits temperature and material-dependence, ensuring a greater sensitivity range of the parameters applied, an essential factor for a more realistic method description.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096739112110141
Author(s):  
Ferhat Ceritbinmez ◽  
Ahmet Yapici ◽  
Erdoğan Kanca

In this study, the effect of adding nanosize additive to glass fiber reinforced composite plates on mechanical properties and surface milling was investigated. In the light of the investigations, with the addition of MWCNTs additive in the composite production, the strength of the material has been changed and the more durable composite materials have been obtained. Slots were opened with different cutting speed and feed rate parameters to the composite layers. Surface roughness of the composite layers and slot size were examined and also abrasions of cutting tools used in cutting process were determined. It was observed that the addition of nanoparticles to the laminated glass fiber composite materials played an effective role in the strength of the material and caused cutting tool wear.


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