Delamination modelling and toughening mechanism of a woven fabric composite

Efficient and accurate numerical simulation methods for the damage tolerance analysis and fatigue life prediction of fibre reinforced polymers are in high demand in industry. Problems arise in the development of such a simulation method due to the limitations from numerical methods, i.e., delamination modelling, and understanding of damage mechanism of woven fabric composites.;The damage mechanisms of five harness satin weave fabric composite is studied by creating a multiscale finite element model of a double cantilever beam specimen. The weft and warp yarns, where the gaps are filled with matrix, are individually modeled. Cohesive zone model elements are pre-located within the matrix and interfaces of matrix-yarns and weft-yarns and warp yarns. These meso-scale parts are bonded with homogeneous parts that are used to model regions where no damage is expected. This constitutes a multiscale model of a DCB specimen. The simulation results are in good agreement with the lower bound of experimental results. The toughening mechanism contributed from the weave structure was revealed.;This study contributes to knowledge by introducing crack modelling methods and by providing more information in order to understand damage mechanisms of 5HS weave fabric composite laminates during delamination growth.;In order to provide effective and accurate delamination modelling, a new crack modelling method by using the finite element method is proposed in this study. The proposed method does not require additional degrees-of-freedom in order to model newly created crack/delamination surfaces. The accuracy of delamination growth simulation by the proposed method and that of a commercial FEA package are in good agreement.