Modeling long-term creep rupture by debonding in unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites

Delayed fracture due to debonding can be observed in many unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites when the fibre/matrix interface experiences creep. The aim of this work is to describe such a phenomenon within the recently proposed modeling framework of transverse isotropy that allows for a neat decomposition of the mechanical behavior into fibre-directional, transverse, and pure shear parts. Specifically, debonding is here chosen to be governed by the tension transverse to the fibres. One can then speak of a mode-I debonding if use is made of the terminology adopted in fracture mechanics. On another hand, the time-dependent response is attributed to the matrix constituent. As the role of this latter is to deform and support stresses primarily in shear, a viscoelastic behavior is introduced that affects solely the pure shear part of the behavior. We show that both characteristics can be easily embedded into the aforementioned formulation. Among others, the occurrence of tertiary creep is made possible to predict. It is otherwise found that the predicted debonding path always propagates along the direction of the fibres in agreement with many experimental observations found in the literature. On the numerical side, the algorithmic treatment of debonding is independent of the one for viscoelasticity. This renders the implementation within the context of the finite element method very easy.