An estimation of reliability of unidirectional composites by catastrophe theory

In the present work, interest is centered on the theory of fracture and practical approaches to reliability estimation of unidirectional composite materials which are based on it. Fracture mechanics is considered not as a theory of macrocracks but as mechanics of fracture mechanisms of the composites with allowance made for probability estimation. A model of composite material with fibers eliminated from the carrying scheme and parameters specific to the stress-strain-damage state (SSDS) was considered. According to the model, during loading, self-accelerated energy rise is accounted for by structural damages growth — the catastrophe takes place. The model allows us to calculate the critical stress. The composites redistribute forces from overloading zones to neighboring ones by microstructural deformations and damages. It is the effect of reservation of carrying ability. Due to this effect, low-value probability of fracture is sufficiently less for the composite than for homogeneous materials. The approach allows us to evaluate the reliability function for both static loading and fatigue.Presented at the Ninth International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials, Riga, October, 1995.Computing Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 539–548, July–August, 1996.     

Statistical theory of elasticity of reinforced plastics with internal stresses of shrinkage origin

The statistical boundary value problem of the theory of elasticity of macrohomogeneous composite media in the natural (unstressed) starting state is extended to media with internal stresses of shrinkage origin. It is established that the moduli of elasticity of the composite do not depend on the magnitude of the shrinkage stresses. The conditions, under which shrinkage of the resin in materials of the glass-reinforced plastic type does not lead to warping, are determined. Applications of the results to the computation of structural reliability characteristics are noted.Kirov Ural Polytechnical Institute, Sverdlovsk. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 676–681, July–August, 1970.     

Wave triplets in two-phase composites

The possibility of an appearance of wave triplets in composites is studied. It is shown that a resonant interaction in industrial composites is possible. It is stated graphically only in two classic examples of layered and fiber reinforced composites that dispersion curves of the materials allow a resonant wave interaction. The quadratic nonlinear theory of two-phase mixtures is built as the variant of a microstructure theory of composite materials. Triplets of harmonic waves are studied in the framework of this theory.Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 31, No. 5, pp. 660–670, September–October, 1995.     

Experimental study of fracture toughness and energy in composite materials

The paper presents an experimental investigation of fracture characteristics of composite materials. The post-peak response of the load-crack opening displacement of notched specimens is used to evaluate the fracture energy associated with progressive matrix damage and crack growth. Effects of fiber orientation and other geometric characteristics on fracture parameters are studied. The load versus crack opening displacement as well as crack length, fracture toughness, and energy versus the number of loading cycles are obtained for different specimens. Based on the experimental results of this study, concepts of the fracture mechanics are applied to evaluate the evolution of fracture toughness and energy.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3T 2N2. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 323–332, May–June, 1998.     

Fibre stability in anisotropic matrix at small strains

As acknowledged in almost all monographs on the fracture of composite materials, one of the major fracture mechanism in unidirectional fibrous composites under uniaxial compression along the reinforcing elements is the stability loss of the material structure (the structural instability). According to this mechanism, theoretical investigations of the fracture along the fibres are reduced to those of the stability loss in the material structure, and the value of external critical forces is accepted as the value of failure forces. At present, numerous theoretical investigations have been carried out in this field with the use of the three-dimensional linearized theory of stability in the framework of the piecewise-homogeneous body model. However, in all the investigations it is assumed that the matrix and the fibre material are isotropic. It is evident that in many cases it is necessary to take into account the anisotropy of the matrix material when investigating the stability loss of fibres. In view of the above, in the framework of the piecewise-homogeneous body model using the three-dimensional linearized theory of stability, the present paper considers the stability loss of the fibre in the anisotropic (transversally isotropic) matrix. The effect of the properties of the matrix material on the critical values of the external loading is examined.Submitted to the 10th International Conference of Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 603–611. September–October, 1997.     

Composite operators,operator expansion,and Galilean invariance in the theory of fully developed turbulence. Infrared corrections to Kolmogorov scaling

The quantum-field renormalization group and operator expansion are used to investigate the infrared asymptotic behavior of the velocity correlation function in the theory of fully developed turbulence. The scaling dimensions of all composite operators constructed from the velocity field and its time derivatives are calculated, and their contributions to the operator expansion are determined. It is shown that the asymptotic behavior of the equal-time correlation function is determined by Galilean-invariant composite operators. The corrections to the Kolmogorov spectrum associated with the operators of canonical dimension 6 are found. The consequences of Galilean invariance for the renormalized composite operators are considered.State University, St. Petersburg. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 100, No. 3, pp. 382–401, September, 1994.     

Optimum stacking sequence of composite laminates for maximum strength

A method is presented for maximum strength optimum design of symmetric composite laminates subjected to in-plane and transverse loadings. The finite element method based on shear deformation theory is used for the analysis of composite laminates. Ply orientation angles are chosen as design variables. The quadratic failure criterion which is meant to predict fracture, is used as an object function for optimum stacking sequence design of a laminated plate. The Broydon-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno optimization technique is employed to solve the optimization problem effectively. Numerical results are given for various loading conditions, boundary conditions, and aspect ratios. The results show that the quadratic failure criterion such as Tsai-Hill theory is effective for the optimum structural design of composite laminates.Presented at the Ninth International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, October 1995).Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 393–404, May–June, 1995.     

Analysis of the fracture of fiber composites on the basis of the statistical theory of branching processes

A statistical theory of branching processes is used to examine models of the localized and delocalized fracture of fiber composites. It is shown that despite the differences between the two types of models, both can be reduced to the same generalized Markov process. A new fracture criterion to be used for all types of models is proposed. The use of this criterion makes it possible to theoretically describe a new structural effect — the dependence of the breaking stress of a composite specimen on its cross-sectional area. In the limiting case of an infinitely large cross-sectional area, the breaking stress calculated on the basis of the proposed approach turns out to be equal to that calculated using previous models. The breaking stress for specimens of finite dimensions turns out to be lower than for specimens of infinite size. This result is due to the nonlinear dependence of the probability of fiber rupture on the additional overstresses that develop in the composite during local microscopic fractures. The results that are obtained should be taken into account in the calculation of the strength of structurally reinforced composites and small structural elements made of composite materials.Kompozit Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 795–807, November–December, 1996.     

Analysis of elastomeric composites based on fiber-reinforced systems. 2. Unidirectional composites

The elastic properties of unidirectionally reinforced composite materials under large deformations are studied. The applied model for deformation of materials is based on the structural macroscopic theory of stiff and soft composites, including micro- and macromechanical levels of analysis of composite media. The properties of unidirectional elastomeric composites are studied in tension and shear in the plane of reinforcement. The microscopic fields in the structural components of composites having poorly compressible and compressible matrices are also analyzed. Changes in the parameters of macroscopic deformation of the composites are examined as functions of the loading parameters and initial conditions of the structure. The evolution of the structural changes in deformed composite materials is described.State Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 29–50, January–February, 1999.     

Nonsteady-state damage accumulation processes in composite flanges under cyclic loads

We consider two typical flanges: for a powerplant casing and for the casing of suspensions with a sound-absorbing duct. We model the behavior of flanges under the action of cyclic external loads based on solution of the nonlinear axisymmetric problem of elasticity theory. In order to take into account fatigue fracture of the layers of the structure, we use maximum stress criteria, a tensor damage function, the rule of linear summation of damage, and reduction schemes for the deformation characteristics of the layers, describing different fracture mechanisms. We indicate the possible nature of the development of fracture zones in composite flanges. We have established the spare load-bearing capacity of the flanges after fracture begins.Report presented at the Tenth International Conference on Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Perm State Technical University, Russia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 636–643, September–October, 1997.     

Fatigue strength of certain materials used in airframe construction

Conclusions The completed tests show that the fatigue strength of carbon-plastic is 2.5 times greater than that of glass-plastic. Consequently, it is best to use carbon-plastic with ED-20 epoxy resin filled with 4–5m glass microspheres for adhesive purposes in load-bearing components. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the weight of airframes and improve their service properties. It was established that, for the composite materials investigated, stiffness is lost during cyclic loading mainly as a result of damage accumulation; the loss in stiffness may serve as a criterion for evaluating the progress of fatigue fracture.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 3, pp. 451–455, May–June, 1980.     

Stress distribution in layered composites

The mechanism governing the transmission of stresses in layer-like composite materials is analyzed on the basis of the equations of Bolotin's [2, 7] theory of layer-like media. A solution is presented for the plane problem of stress distribution in a medium under the influence of loads at the boundary of one of the reinforcing layers. Some approximate solutions based on various simplifying approximations are presented, and the limits of their applicability are discussed. Simple equations are given for the stress maxima in the binding layers. The results are used in order to discuss the mechanism underlying the transmission of stresses in layered materials.Moscow Power Institute. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 2, pp. 319–325, March–April, 1970.     

Aging of polymer composite materials exposed to the conditions in outer space

A comprehensive investigation is made of glass, carbon, organic fiber-reinforced plastics, and epoxy-based hybrid composite materials employed in Salyut-type spacecraft which remained in space for up to 1501 1501 days. In particular, the properties, aging mechanism, and strain-strength variations in these materials due to exposure to the conditions in outer space were studied. After a series of tests were performed in space the standard strain and strength parameters as well as the mass, density, and thickness changes in the composite materials were estimated. Electron-microscopic and dynamic-mechanical analyses were performed, and the thermal expansion was estimated for a wide range of temperatures. The principal, dominant process occurring due to the continuous presence in outer space was found to be post-curing of the resin materials, which in turn affected the mechanical characteristics of the composite materials. After 456–1501 days in space the room-temperature strength of the composite materials (except for organic plastics) did not decrease, while at high temperatures it even increased. The post-curing and restructuring of some composite materials lowered their dynamic shear moduli in the glassy state of the resin. Due to consolidation of the surface layer of hybrid composite materials irradiated and subjected to thermal cycles, failure during bending varied from transverse fracture to delamination. The negative effect of the post-curing process was expressed as higher internal tension in the hybrid composite materials with different linear thermal expansion coefficients. The magnitude of this effect depended on the amplitude of the thermal cycles. The unprotected surface of the composites bombarded by atomic oxygen, microparticles, and space garbage were subjected to pickling and microerosion, the maximum effect occurring at the initial stage of exposure. Desorption of moisture and low-molecular products during the first 100–200 days of thermal cycling in the vacuum of near-earth orbit must be considered when estimating the total mass loss of composite materials. Data from microscopic, dynamic-mechanical, and other types of analyses revealed that the outer-space factors improved the supermolecular order of the resin volume, while the subsurface layer structure of the composite materials had loosened. Microcracks formed in the plastic's surface during 1501 days in outer space did not, in general, affect the mechanical parameters of the composite materials. Most of the observed effects of exposure to conditions in outer space were less pronounced for plastics protected by aluminum foil or other plastic coatings. The data obtained can be used for designing external elements of spacecraft by selecting materials with specified and predictable properties for long-term service.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 457–467, July–August, 1993.In conclusion we thank I. G. Zhigun and R. P. Shlits for assisting in determining the mechanical properties of PCM as well as the crew of the Salyut-6 and Salyut-7 space stations for setting up, monitoring, and delivering samples to earth.     

Microstress fields and the mechanical properties of disordered fiber composites

Conclusion The effective elastic moduli and Poisson's ratios and the mean characteristics of the stress fields in the components of unidirectional fiber composites with a stochastic structure are nearly the same as the corresponding values calculated for a regular model of the composite. Relatively small increase (up to 6%) is seen in the transverse shear moduli with the transition from a regular structure to a stochastic structure. In the latter, there is a substantial increase in the stress concentration factor. Here, the difference between the stochastic structure and the regular structure increases with an increase in fiber stiffness and is particularly great (with a difference of two to three orders of magnitude) in the case of shear loading. The probability of the occurrence of microscopic fracture in the binder of the investigated materials is higher in transverse tension, but the difference from the results obtained for the regular models is more significant in the case of shear loading. Microscopic fracture nuclei will be formed in the matrix of the composite with the stochastic structure at considerably lower macroscopic stresses than are required for the regular structure.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 5, pp. 860–865, September–October, 1990.     

On the three-dimensional stability loss problems of elements of structures of viscoelastic composite materials

Up to now, numerous problems of the stability loss for elements of structures made from composite materials have been investigated in the framework of the three-dimensional linearized theory of stability (TDLTS). It follows from the analysis of these investigations that the TDLTS was mainly applied to the design of elements of structures made from time-independent materials. For the solution of these problems for viscoelastic materials in the framework of the TDLTS, the dynamic investigation method and the critical deformation method are recommended in many references. However, it is known that a very reliable and frequently used approach for viscoelastic materials is the approach based on the study of the growth of insignificant initial imperfections in elements of structures with time. Taking into account the above-mentioned, an approach based on the growth of the initial imperfection for the investigation of the stability loss problems of elements of structures made from viscoelastic composite materials in the framework of TDLTS is proposed in the present paper. The composite material is modeled as an anisotropic, viscoelastic solid with averaged mechanical properties and all investigations are made on the strip simply supported at the ends.Yildiz Technical University, Dept. Math. Eng., 80750, Besiktas-Yildiz, Istanbul, Turkey. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 761–770, November–December, 1998.     

Asymptotic Gauss–Jacobi quadrature error estimation for Schwarz–Christoffel integrals

Numerical conformal mapping packages based on the Schwarz–Christoffel formula have been in existence for a number of years. Various authors, for good reasons of practical efficiency, have chosen to use composite n-point Gauss–Jacobi rules for the estimation of the Schwarz–Christoffel path integrals. These implementations rely on an ad hoc, but experimentally well-founded, heuristic for selecting the spacing of the integration end-points relative to the position of the nearby integrand singularities. In the present paper we derive an explicitly computable estimate, asymptotic as n→∞, for the relevant Gauss–Jacobi quadrature error. A numerical example illustrates the potential accuracy of the estimate even at low values of n. It is apparent that the error estimate will allow the adaptive construction of composite rules in a manner that is more efficient than has been possible hitherto.     

Application of the finite-element method to improve the quasi-exact reinforcement theory of fibrous polymeric composites

In the paper, the WL quasi-exact reinforcement theory of fibrous polymeric composites is improved. An optimum compatibility condition related to the transverse shear problem for a unit cell, which brings solutions closest to reality, is derived. This condition is formulated in the form of a linear combination of maximum radial and circumferential displacements. Optimum coefficients of this combination are determined by comparing analytical and numerical solutions for a test specimen in the form of a rectangular thin plate, which is in a plane strain state and is subject to selected loading schemes. The analytic solutions are obtained for a homogenized material by using the WL reinforcement theory. The numerical solutions are found for an actual heterogeneous composite material by using the finite-element method, and they verify the WL reinforcement theory, in particular, the admissibility of Hills assumption. An analysis performed for two composite materials shows that the improved WL reinforcement theory gives adequate displacement fields.Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 79–92, January–Febrauary, 2005.     

Thermoelasticity problems in the mechanics of composite materials with large-scale deformation of the filler

A problem is posed and a method of solution developed for a class of thermoelasticity problems in the mechanics of composite materials with large-scale structural deformations, in which in the continuum approximation the composite material is modelled by a homogeneous orthotropic body with curvilinear orthotropy. As an application the authors establish the foundations of a theory of buckling for planar structural elements subjected to constant thermal fields.Translated from Matematicheskie Metody i Fiziko-Mekhanicheskie Polya, No. 29, pp. 16–25, 1989.     

A physically based failure criterion for laminated composites

The stress and strain fields in laminated composites can be described realistically with the help of a refined theory of elasticity for anisotropic materials. In contrast, the respective failure characteristics cannot be predicted satisfactorily based on the commonly used failure criteria. The main disadvantage of these generalized failure criteria, such as the quadratic failure criteria of Sakharov, Azzi/Tsai, Tsai/Wu, etc., is that they combine fundamentally different fracture mechanisms of the homogenized UD layer in one approximation by an interpolation polynomial. A completely different method for the formulation of realistic failure criteria, taking into account the heterogeneous anisotropic material structure relevant to the fracture, is based on the Mohr hypothesis for brittle materials that in fact only the stresses in the fracture plane induce failure. This physically based failure criterion not only considers the decisive eifference between the fiber fracture and the interfiber fracture, but also characterizes further fracture types in the plane parallel to the fibers.Institut für Leichtbau und Kunststoffetechnik (ILK) Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 413–422, July–August, 1999.     

Fracture propagation in a boron-aluminum composite

Conclusions 1. Application of the linear mechanics of fracturing to composites of the boron-aluminum type is justified, since it has proven possible to determine in an experiment the value of the fracture strength which characterizes the resistance of the material to fracture.2. The fracture strength of boron-aluminum turns out to be higher than the same characteristic of the matrix material. Boron-aluminum is a material with a high resistance to fracture, whose surface is normal to the direction of the fibers. The fracture work of boron-aluminum with a fiber content of 50% is approximately three times higher than the fracture work of the unreinforced matrix.3. At present there is no computational model of a composite which would permit reliably estimating the value of the fracture strength and optimizing a composite for this characteristic. Such a model should intrinsically take account of the statistical characteristics of a fiber.4. The data obtained can also be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of a scaling dependence of the strength of a composite in the case of supercritical reinforcement.Institute of Solid-Body Physics, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 6, pp. 1010–1017, November–December, 1976.