Finite Element Analysis of Delamination Behaviors of Composite Laminates under Hygrothermal Environment Using Virtual Cr
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TECHNICAL ARTICLE—PEER-REVIEWED
Finite Element Analysis of Delamination Behaviors of Composite Laminates under Hygrothermal Environment Using Virtual Crack Closure Technique J. G. Li . P. F. Liu . J. K. Chu
Submitted: 6 March 2018 / Published online: 23 January 2019 Ó ASM International 2019
Abstract This research aims to study the delamination behaviors of T700/8911 composite laminates under hygrothermal environment. For two mixed-mode I/II delamination specimens: single-leg bending delamination and overleg bending delamination, finite element analysis using virtual crack closure technique as a ABAQUS module is comparatively performed to study the delamination growth and load responses, in which different delamination growth criteria are used. Mechanical tests and analytical solutions for two kinds of specimens are used to get the delamination fracture toughness. Results show that hygrothermal environment decreases the load-bearing ability and delamination resistance to some extent. This work provides a new thread for studying the delamination mechanisms of composite laminates under hygrothermal environment. Keywords Delamination Hygrothermal environment Composite laminates Virtual crack closure technology (VCCT) Finite element analysis (FEA)
Introduction Carbon fiber-reinforced resin matrix composites show a series of excellent properties such as high strength, high modulus and low density. However, the failure modes of J. G. Li J. K. Chu Institute of Chemical Machinery and Process Equipment, School of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China P. F. Liu (&) Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316021, China e-mail: [email protected]
composite laminates are complicated which include matrix cracking, interface debonding, fiber fracture and delamination. Particularly, delamination is commonly considered as an important failure mode that reduces the stiffness and strength of structures severely. As a powerful method, virtual crack closure technique (VCCT) was first proposed by Rybicki [1] based on the linear elastic fracture mechanics. The technique assumes that the energy required for the propagation of a given crack length is equal to the energy required to close the corresponding crack length. Based on this hypothesis, VCCT can calculate the energy release rate (ERR) efficiently by FEA. Furthermore, the calculation is independent of the fracture modes and directions. Recently, VCCT has been widely used to predict delamination growth when the crack propagation criteria such as the B-K law [2], the power law [3] or the Reeder law [4] are specified. However, many works [5–8] showed that hygrothermal environment affects the delamination behaviors of composites. Singh et al. [9] and Ghost et al. [10] predicted shear deformation responses of composites under hygrothermal environment by FEA. Sullivan et al. [11], Arash et al. [12] and Ray et al. [13] studied the mechanical properties of composites with hygrothermal aging. Bao et al. [14] studied the moisture absorption diffusion a
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