MechanicsofLaminated CompositeStructures

NachiketaTiwari IndianInstituteofTechnologyKanpur Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Lecture6 BehaviorofUnidirectionalComposites Behavior of Unidirectional Composites

LectureOverview Lecture Overview

Materialaxesinunidirectionalcomposites Constituentvolumefractionanditsrelationshipwith compositedensity composite density Importanceofpredictivemethodologiesusedfor p p g compositematerialproperties Predictive model for longitudinal stiffness Predictivemodelforlongitudinalstiffness Predictivemodelforlongitudinalstrength g g

TheNeedforPredictiveModels forDeterminingCompositeProperties for Determining Composite Properties

Mechanicalpropertiesofacompositematerialdependon:
Propertiesofconstituentmaterials Properties of constituent materials Orientationsofeachlayer Volumefractionsofeachconstituent Thicknessofeachlayer Thickness of each layer Natureofbondingbetweenadjacentlayers

Thesepropertiesmaybedeterminedbyconductingsuitableexperiments Th ti b d t i db d ti it bl i t asperindustrystandards. However,aspecificsetofexperimentscanonlyinformusabouta specific fibermatrixsystem.Hence,ifwewanttodesignacompositesystemby tuningitsvolumefraction,orfibermatrixcombination,ororientation, thenaverylargenumberofexperimentsmayhavetobeconducted. then a very large number of experiments may have to be conducted

TheNeedforPredictiveModels forDeterminingCompositeProperties for Determining Composite Properties

Suchaprocessformaterialpropertydeterminationisextremelytedious, prohibitivelyexpensive,andtimeconsuming. prohibitively expensive and time consuming Stillfurther,exactfibermatrixcombinationsmaynotbealwaysavailable fortesting. for testing Hence,thereisaneedfordevelopingmathematicalmodels,whichcan reliablypredictdifferentthermomechanicalpropertiesofcomposite li bl di diff h h i l i f i materials. Suchapproachesareveryusefulforengineerssincetheyprovide significantsavingsintimeandcost.

PredictingLongitudinalModulusofUnidirectionalLamina
Consideraunidirectionalcompositelaminawithfiberswhich arecontinuous,uniformingeometricandmechanical properties,andmutuallyparallelthroughoutthelengthofthe properties and mutually parallel throughout the length of the lamina.Wealsoassumethatthebondingbetweenfiberand matrixisperfect,andthusstrainsexperiencedbyfiber(f), matrix(f) d ( )andcomposite(c) ( )aresameinlongitudinal l d l direction(1direction).Forsuchacomposite,whenloadedin 1direction,thetotalexternalloadPc willbesharedpartlyby p y y fibers,Pf,andpartlybymatrix,Pm.ThisisshowninFig.6.1.
Fig.6.1:LoadsonComposite,Fibers,& inaUnidirectionalLamina.

PredictingLongitudinalModulusUnidirectionalLamina
Wefurtherassumethatfibersandmatrixbehaveelastically.Thus,the expressionforstressinfibers,andmatrixcanbewrittenintermsoftheir moduli (Ef,andEm)andstrainsas: f =Ef f and m =Em m Further,iftotalcrosssectionalareasoffibersandmatrixareAf andAm, respectively,then: Pf = Aff = AfEf f, =A =A and Pm =Amm=AmEm

PredictingLongitudinalModulusUnidirectionalLamina
Further,weknowthatloadoncomposite,P is sum of P andP Thus Further we know that load on composite Pc,issumofPf and Pm.Thus, Pc =Acc =Aff+Amm, or c = (Af/Ac)f+ (Am/Ac)m =(A +(A However,foraunidirectionalcomposite,Af/Ac andAm/Ac arevolume fractionsforfiberandmatrix,respectively.Hence, f ti f fib d ti ti l H c =Vff+Vmm= (VfEf +VmEm) (Eq.6.2) And,ifEq.4.2isdifferentiatedwithrespecttostrain(whichissameinfiber andmatrix)then. dc /d=Vf(df /d) +Vm(dm/d),or f Ec =VfEf +VmEm (Eq.6.3)

PredictingLongitudinalModulusofUnidirectionalLamina
Equations6.2and6.3showthatcontributionsoffibersandmatrixto averagecompositetensilemodulusandstressareproportionately dependentontheirrespectivevolumefractions. g p Ingeneral,matrixmaterialhasanonlinearstressstrainresponsecurve.For unidirectionalcompositeshavingsuchnonlinearmatrixmaterials,Eq.6.2 workswellintermsofpredictingtheirstressstrain.However,thestress strainresponsecurveinsuchmaterialsmaynotshowupasstrongly nonlinear,sincefibers,especiallywhentheirvolumefractionsarehigh, dominatetheirstressstrainresponse. Thehigherthefibervolumefraction,thecloseristhestressstraincurvefor aunidirectionallaminatothatforthefiber.

PredictingLongitudinalModulusofUnidirectionalLamina g g
Experimentaldatapertainingtotensiletestspecimensoflaminaagreevery wellwithEqs.6.2and6.3.However,theresultsforcompressivetestsarenot well with Eqs 6 2 and 6 3 However the results for compressive tests are not allthatagreeable. Thisisbecausefibersundercompressiontendtobuckle,andthistendency h b fb b kl h isresistedbymatrixmaterial.Thisisanalogoustoastructurewithseveral columnsonanelasticfoundation.Foraunidirectionalcomposite,the compressiveresponseisstronglydependentonshearstiffnessofmatrix compressive response is strongly dependent on shear stiffness of matrix material. Further,Eq.6.2showsusthatloadsharedbyfibersmaybeincreasedeither h h h l d h db fb b d h byincreasingfiberstiffnessorbyincreasingitsvolumefraction.However, experimentaldatashowthatitbecomesimpracticaltoaimforfibervolume fractionsinexcessof80%duetoissuesofpoorfiberwettingandinsufficient fractions in excess of 80% due to issues of poor fiber wetting and insufficient matriximpregnationbetweenfibers.

PredictingLongitudinalStrengthofUnidirectionalLamina
Topredictlongitudinalstrengthofaunidirectionalply,requiresoneto T di t l it di l t th f idi ti l l i t understandthenatureofdeformationofsuchaplyasloadincreases.In general,thestressstrainresponseofunidirectionalpliesundertension undergoesfourstagesofchange. undergoes four stages of change
Infirststage,whenstressesaresmall,fiberaswellasmatrixmaterialsexhibit elasticbehavior. Subsequently matrix starts becoming plastic while most of the fibers continue Subsequently,matrixstartsbecomingplastic,whilemostofthefiberscontinue toextendelastically. Inthethirdstage,bothfibersandmatrixdeformplastically.Thismaynothappen incaseofglassorgraphitefibers,astheyarebrittleinnature. Finally,thefibersfractureleadingtosuddenriseinmatrixstress,whichinturn leadstooverallcompositefailure.

Aunidirectionallaminastartstofail intension,whenitsfibersarestretched totheirultimatefracturestrain.Hereitisassumedthatallofitsfiberfailat thesamestrainlevel.Ifatthisstage,thevolumefractionofmatrixisbelow acertainthreshold,theitwillnotbeabletoabsorbextrastresses transferredtoitduetobreakingoffibers.Insuchascenario,theentire compositelaminawillfail.

PredictingLongitudinalStrengthofUnidirectionalLamina
Th Thus,ultimatetensilestrengthofaunidirectionalplycanbe li il h f idi i l l b calculatedas:
uc =Vfuf +(1Vf)m (Eq.6.4) whereuc anduf areultimatetensilestrengthsofplyandfiber,respectively, andmisstressinmatrixatastrainlevelequalingfracturestraininfiber.

Ifthefibervolumefractiondoesnotexceedacertainthreshold (Vmin),thenevenifallthefibersbreak,thematrixthetotalloadon thecomposite.Insuchacondition,theultimatetensilestrengthof the composite. In such a condition, the ultimate tensile strength of compositemaybewrittenas:
uc =Vmum=(1Vf)um (Eq.6.5)

TherelationforVmin,canbedevelopedbyequatingEqs.6.4and6.5, replacingVf byVmin,andsolvingforthelatter.ThisisshowninEq.6.6.

Vmin =(um m )/( uf +um m ) ( )/( (Eq.6.6) (E 6 6)

PredictingLongitudinalStrengthofUnidirectionalLamina
F h Further,awelldesignedunidirectionallaminarequiresthatits ll d i d idi i ll i i h i ultimatetensilestrengthshouldexceedthatofmatrix.Thiscan happenonlywhen;
uc =Vfuf +(1Vf)m um ,whereumisultimatetensilestrengthofmatrix.

Thisequationissatisfiedonlyiffibervolumefractionexceedsa certaincriticalvalue,whichisdefinedas:
Vcrit =(um m )/(uf m ) (Eq.6.7)

Thus,if:
Vf <Vmin,thenfailureofmatrixwillcoincidewithfailureofcomposite,whilefiberswillfail priortofailureofmatrix. prior to failure of matrix. Vf =Vmin,thenfailureofmatrix,fiberandcompositewillhappenatthesametime. Vf >Vmin,thenfailureoffiber,willimmediatelyleadtofailureofmatrixaswellasofthe composite. Vf >Vcrit,thenfailureoffiberwillimmediatelyleadtofailureofmatrixandalsothe composite.Insuchacasethestrengthofunidirectionalcompositewillexceedthatof matrix.

Whatyoulearntinthislecture? What you learnt in this lecture?

Materialaxesofalamina,andthenotionoftransverseisotropy Howtocalculatedensityofacomposite,usingvolumeandmass fractionvalues. Therationaleunderlyingdevelopmentofpredictivemethodologies forestimatingcompositematerialproperties Relationstopredictlongitudinalmodulusofaunidirectionallamina R l i Relationstopredictstrengthofunidirectionallamina di h f idi i ll i Differentfailurecriterionforaunidirectionallaminawhich undergoespureuniformtension undergoes pure uniform tension