Computational Methodology for Modeling Fracture in Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites

Abstract

A framework is presented for analyzing the inelastic behavior and fracture of polymer matrix composites. Physics-based viscoplastic constitutive equations are used and supplemented with a matrix cracking model and an energy-based debonding model. The capabilities of the framework are illustrated by finite-element solutions of boundary-value problems under plane strain conditions using the unit-cell concept. In the application, focus is centered on the effect of manufacturing induced voids on local modes of fracture under both tension and compression.