Development of a statistically equivalent representative volume element for a fibre reinforced composite

T. Vaughan, C. McCarthy, C. Soutis

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The non-uniform spatial arrangement of fibres in composite materials leads to an irregular stress distribution across the microstructure, with peak stress regions initiating material damage early in the loading history. In order to accurately predict damage at a microscopic scale, a statistically equivalent representative volume element (SERVE) is developed herein. This paper focuses on developing a SERVE for a continuous carbon fibre reinforced epoxy composite material. A numerical algorithm is used to generate the microstructure defined by a hard-core random field. This generated microstructure is then compared to the actual microstructure, which has been statistically characterised using image analysis software. It is found that due to the high volume fraction of the carbon fibre composite, the microstructure cannot be modelled as a hard-core random field and so a new approach is identified.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computational Structures Technology, CST 2008
PublisherCivil-Comp Press
Volume88
ISBN (Print)9781905088232
Publication statusPublished - 2008
Event9th International Conference on Computational Structures Technology, CST 2008 - Athens, Greece
Duration: 2 Sep 20085 Sep 2008

Conference

Conference9th International Conference on Computational Structures Technology, CST 2008
Country/TerritoryGreece
CityAthens
Period2/09/085/09/08

Keywords

  • Carbon fibre
  • Composites
  • Multi-scale modelling
  • Random point fields
  • Representative volume elements
  • Statistical microstructure

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