Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Carbon Fiber Composites Subjected to a Discrete Source of Damage

Abstract

The paper investigates the effect of a discrete source of damage on the loading capacity and failure strength of composite materials. First, the effects of varying fiber orientation on the distribution of the circumferential stress around the source of damage and on the failure strengths of continuous fiber-reinforced composites were investigated using theoretical approaches developed for infinite-plate with a central hole. Numerical simulations were conducted and spatial graphical illustrations were plotted using fiber orientation angle and angular location on the circumference of the hole as analysis variables. Tsi-Wu failure criterion was employed to predict the failure strength of a composite layer subjected to a discrete damage with a varying fiber orientation. Second, experimental tests using specimens with and without damage were carried out to find out the impact of discrete damage on the loading capacity and failure strength of woven Carbon-epoxy composite laminates. A qualitative analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of the size of damage on the structural performances of laminated composites.