Fully Coupled Micro/Macro Deformation, Damage, and Failure Prediction for SiC/Ti-15-3 Laminates

Abstract

The deformation, failure, and low-cycle fatigue life of SCS-6/Ti-15-3 composites are predicted using a coupled deformation and damage approach in the context of the analytical generalized method of cells (GMC) micromechanics model. The local effects of inelastic deformation, fiber breakage, fiber-matrix interfacial debonding, and fatigue damage are included as submodels that operate on the microscale for the individual composite phases. For the laminate analysis, lamination theory is employed as the global or structural scale model, while GMC is embedded to operate on the mesoscale to simulate the behavior of the composite material within each laminate layer. While the analysis approach is quite complex and multifaceted, it is shown through comparison with experimental data to be quite accurate and realistic, while remaining extremely efficient.