1

Abstract

Damping is of significant importance in dynamic structures. In this study,

a brief overiew of recent developments in field of material and structural
damping are reviewed in this study. This study will be focused on developing a multi-scale model to understand damping of a two phase composite
material based on its constituents and study effect of volume fraction. A
throughoug numerical study of various RVEs is presented along with a possible new model to obtain homogenized properties. Using this numerical
micromechanical model is developed to extract the properties of a lamina,
which are then compared with present literature. The laminate properties
are analytically calculated using Classical laminate theory and correspondence principle, using which effects of fibre orientation, lay-up effects were
studied.

Background

Vibration in machinery leads to high cycle fatigue failure and decreases its
lifecycle. It costs the organization both time and money to maintain and replace parts over its lifespan. Damping can be defined as the process by which
a structure or structural component dissipates mechanical energy, usually
through friction at microscopic scale.
Woodhouse [1] classified damping broadly in following classes:
Energy dissipation distributed throughout the bulk material of structurematerial damping e.g. rubber. This is easier to model with help of
prony series/stress relaxation/creep data for the material and is widely
covered in literature.
Dissipation associated with interfaces and junction between two parts
of structure-Boundary damping e.g. fibre-matrix slip interface, interlaminar damping. These are highly non-linear effects and lack proper
understanding.
Dissipation associate with a viscous fluid in contact with structure.
The problem of vibration laminated beams and plates has been widely covered in the literature. The concept of Constrained layer damping was introduced in 1960s and is fundamental to study of laminated beams. Early

works in this field can be found in Ross,Ungar and Kerwin, Rao and Plunkett and Lee. Johnson and Kienholz[8] introduced the concept of the use
of modal strain energy(MSE) and FE formulations to be used to calculate
modal loss factors for a system with viscoelastic dampers. MSE concept is
widely used to quantify the damping capacity of structures.
However, in above mentioned analyses the base material was considered
perfectly elastic which is reasonable assumption for metals. Usually there is
a trade off between damping capacity and structural strength. Composite
materials have excellent structural properties and often an order of magnitude higher damping capacities than metals. The intrinsic damping in
composite is primarily due to viscoelastic nature of the matrix and interface
between fibre and matrix. This study will be focused understanding hysteric
damping which is dominant mechanism in undamaged composites at small
amplitudes.
Due to anisotropic nature of fibre reincofrced polymers, damping is negligible
in direction of fibres is much higher in tranverse direction. The proeprties
of composites are usually calculated using voight and reuss rules of mixtures. Hashin-shritkman dervided bounds based on variational principles
which provide a more accurate prediction of composite materials. Hashin
further developed analytical equations to calculate complex modulus of unidirectional FRP based on properties of matrix and fibres. Numerical works
by [Hwang and Gibson, Chandra have been presented based on strain energy method to predict damping in a composite ply. The strain energy
method states that of any system of linaer viscoelastic elements the loss
factor can be expressed as a rati of summation of the product of individual element loss factors and strain enrgy stored in each elemnt to the toal
strain energy. Damping and moduli of composites with short aligned fibres
can be predicted using Cox. Bert and chang used micromchanics and correspondence principle to characterize damping in a unidirectional composite.
Saravanos and chamis developed integrated micromechanics methodology
to completely characterize damping in comosites via six damping coeffients.
Kaliske and Rothert developed a modeol for material damping using a consistent micromechanical theory of a representative fibre matrix cell. Tsai
and chai explored the effects of packing array of fibres on overall damping
using method of cells. Brinson and fisher workers have compared the mechanical property predictions for a three phase viscoelastic coposites by use
of bensivite and mori tanaka method.

Given the damping properties of a lamina, there are several macromechanical theories to predict damping of a composite. Adams and bacon developed
macromechanical model to predict damping in compostes. They characterized overall damping as a summation of damping capasities due to longitudinal, tranverse and shear stresses. Adams and maheri used these results
to predict flexural damping and strength with respect to fibre orientation.
They showed that at lower angles(0-15), material behaved as hookean elastic material and damping can be predicted usinghysteric loops. However at
higher angles of (30-90) damping is governed by interaction between fibres
and matrix. CT SUN AND GIBSON used classical laminate theory (CLT)
and correspondence principle to predict damping in composite materials. A
state of plane stress can only be assumed if the lamina is thin. However for
prediction of damping in composites with integrated compliant viscoelastic
layers, first order shear deformation theory gives better results. A comparitve review of major macromechanical theories is given by Billups and
cavalli. Crane and Gillespie used CLT to calculate A-B-D matrix of composites integrating the frequency dependence of damping. In the above theories, an assumption fibres being elastic and non-dissipative has been made.
Saravanos and Chamis further developed their theory to predict damping
in composites using discrete layer damping mechanics for thick laminates.
Gibson and Guan used CLT to predict damping in woven fabric-reinforce
polymer matrix composites using saravanos and chamiss equations. There
are several studies in lieterature which further extend the findings are macroscopic scale into structural level. However, they are not considered at this
stage of in this project.

3
3.1

Introduction
Damping

Damping is defined as the ability of a material or structure to dissipate energy under oscillatory motion. It is broadly classified into Active damping-in
which feeback forces in a control loop are used to limit deflections. Piezoelectic actuators are being widely researched and used for this purpose. Passive
damping-which will be the focus of this research, is related to the iherit ability of the material or system to dissipate energy under oscillatory loading.
Passive damping is further divided in two branches Material or Hysteric
damping and Structural damping.
Material damping is related to the energy dissipation inherent to the ma3

terial. Materials such as elastomers have higher damping capacity than

metals at the expense of stiffness. Polymer matrix composites are known to
have significantly higher material damping due to viscoelastic nature of the
polymer matrix and heterogeneity. The major mechanisms which cause this
damping are classified as internal friction include phenomenon like movement of polymeric chains, internal defects and relative movement of domain
wall. The polymeric chains causes elastomers to disspate more energy in
shear than in dilational deformation. Structural damping relates to inclusion
of damping devices such as dashpots, viscoelastic constrained layers, friction
in riveted joints etc. This research will be focused on the understanding the
material damping characteristics of the fibre reinforces composites(FRP) in
terms of its constituents usually Epoxy matrix and glass/carbon fibres.

3.2

Measurement of damping

There are several ways to quantify damping in material or structure. For

further description and derivation refer to THE relationship of traditional
damping measures for materials
Specific Damping Capacity(SDC) : SDC is defined as the ratio of
the energy dissipated to the energy stored in the system.
=

W
W

(1)

Where,
W:Energy dissipated in one cycle
W:Total Energy Stored in one cycle
There are several choices of W which have been used in literature.
[Lazan, B.L., Damping of Materials and Members in Structural Mechanics, Permagon Press Ltd., New York, 1968.] defined W to be total
strain energy for the entire specimen at maximum deformation. Other
definitions include, peak potential energy solely of the elastic component of the model. However, [Ungars] definition of stored energy equal
to the totalstrain energy at maximum displacement is widely used. As
for any structure, the total strain energy and hence the damping will
be related to the global deformation. The concept of Modal damping Capacity is widely used to simply characterization of damping in
structures undergoing small deflections. Modal SDC with n mode is
according to Chamis/saravanos 1991:
Psi n
4

Figure 1
Loss Factor Eta Loss factor is defined as the tangent of the loss angle
Phi. It is also related to the SDC as follows. Loss factors are also
related to the complex modulus which will be discussed in more detail
in subsequent sectons
Logarithmic Decrement This method is useful to characterize damping
for free vibrating structures in time domain. Logarithmic decrement is
defined as the natural log of the ratio of amplitudes of any successive
peaks.
=

4
4.1

1
x1
ln
n xn+1

(2)

Linear Viscoelastic Theory

Introduction

In order to fully characterize damping in composite its essential to understand the theory of linear viscoelasticity and the constituitive models that
allow mathematical characterization of damping. The constituitive relationship between stress and strain for elastic materials in one dimensiom is given
by hookes law as follows.
= E
(3)

However, it is well known that real materials exhibit both elastic as well
as some viscous properties. These Viscoelastic materials exhibit properties such as relaxation, creep, frequency dependent stiffness and dissipative
characteristics as well as strain rate dependent hysteric behavious. Several
texts such as Ferry, Christensen and aklonis and macknight describe the
fundamental theory of viscoelasticity. Readers are also recommended text
by hal and catherine brinson for an introduction to viscoelasticity and more
information about microscopic properties. The dissipative property of viscoelastic polymer matrix arises from its long chained polymer structure. The
movement of polymer are highly dependent on temperature and frequency.
In order to develop constitutive relations for viscoelastic materials, it is
important to understand relaxation and creep phenomena.

4.2

Stress Relaxation

On application of constant strain applied quasi-statically(to ignore intertial

effects) viscoelastic materials show gradual reduction in stress. As the Stress
is function of time, corresponding relaxation modulus will also vary with
time.
E(t) =

(t)
= 0 E(t)
0

(4)

Where,
E(t) = RelaxationM odulus
The latter equation is analogous to Hookes law for material that is time
dependent but only at constant strain. Similar relaxation functions can be
obtained for Shear G(t) as well as Bulk Moduli(t). It is also helpful to define
the Instantaneous modulus, Eo at t=0 and Equilibirium modulus when t=.

4.3

Creep

Another fundamental characterization test for viscoelastic material is done

by appling constant stress on the viscoelastic material under which material
shows slow, progressive deformation i.e. Creep.
D(t) =

(t)
or (t) = 0 D(t)
0

Where,
D(t) = CreepCompliance

(5)

Figure 2

Figure 3

4.4

Linearity

In order to determine whether under specific loading conditions, the viscoelastic response of the material is linear or non-linear. This can be done
by performing creep or relaxation tests at three different stress(or strain)
levels and plotting the isochronous Stress-Strain diagrams as shown below.
If the isochronous graph is linear for any given time, the material response
is also linear.

4.5

Boltzmann Superposition Principle

So far, the response of viscoelastic materials to step stress or strain have been
defined. To develop constituitive relationship at any given stress/strain we
use the Boltzman superposition principle. Boltzman superposition principle
states that the effect of a compound cause is the sum of the effects of the
individual causes.
Consider any arbitary strain history as given in FIGURE. The idea here is
to decompose entire strain history into small pulses. The stress at time t
is the summation of the stress effects of each of these pulses. The principle
of causality which states that the cause should precede the effect allows us
to consider oly the pulses upto present time. The Boltzman superposition
integral can be shown to be, where t is time and T is time variable of
integration.
Z t
d(T )
E(t T )
(t) =
dT
(6)
dT
0

4.6

Correspondence Principle

Correspondence principle first suggested by Alfrey, states that if a solution

to a linear elasticity problem is known, the solution to the corresponsing
problem for the viscoelastic material can be be obtained by replacing each
quantity which can depend on time by its laplace tranform mutiplied by
the transform variable(s or w),and then by transforming back into the time
domain. It can be shown that for viscoelastic materials, a simple substitution
of complex properties is sufficient.

Viscoelastic Material Models

In order to mathematically model viscoelasticity and gain a better understanding of the physical relation between stress and strain, combination of
spring and dash-pots are used. Maxwell model consists of a purely elastic
8

Figure 4
spring and purely viscous damper in series. Kelvin model consist of a spring
and dashpot connected in parallel.

5.1

Differential Equation for Kelvin Model

For a Kelvin solid the equilibrium condition is,

= s + d

(7)

however the stress is same in the model i.e.

 = s = d

(8)

s = Es s

(9)

d = d d

(10)

For spring,
For dashpot,
Hence, the differential equation is given by,
= Es s + d d

(11)

Considering Creep loading i.e. step stress input, The Strain is given as,

t
0 
 (t) =
1 e
(12)
E
and the corresponding creep compliance is,

t
1 
D (t) =
1 e
E
9

(13)

The dashpot doesnt allow the spring to deform instantaneously. Hence

in order to obtain a step strain, infinite stress is required. Making Kelvin
model unsuitable for the modelling real materials. Similarly it can be shown
that Maxwell model predicts correct Relaxation response but not Creep.
However, these make good building blocks and combinations of both models
are widely used to model viscoelastic response.

5.2

Standard Linear Solid

Standard linear Solid (SLS) model in the simplest model which can predict
both relaxation as well as damping phenomena effectively. The equilibirium
condition and kinematic conditions are,
= maxwell + 1

(14)

 = maxwell = 1

Considering the Maxwell arm, the equilibrium and kinematic conditions are,
maxwell = s + d

(15a)

maxwell = s = d

(15b)

Differentiating 15a and substituting equations for spring 9 and dashpot 10,
the constituitive relationship for the maxwell element can be obtained,
.

.
+ =
E2

(16)

Using 16 and 14 the constitutive equation for the SLS is as given below,
1
E
.
.
+ = (E1 + E2 )  + 1 

(17)

Where,
Relaxation time =

E2

In Rheological texts, the differential equations are written in standard

form with accending derivatives from left to right.
.

a0 + a1 = b0  + b1 

10

(18)

5.2.1

Harmonic Response of SLS Solid

We are interested in understanding hysterisis i.e. damping properties of

viscoelastic materials under oscillatory loading i.e. 0 cos or 0 sin. Usually
complex exponentials are used for derivations due to their simpler algebra.Let us consider a oscillatory input of,
 (t) = 0 eit

(19)

Substituting 19 in 17 leads to,

+

E1 it
= iw0 (E1 + E2 ) eit +
0 e

(20)

Solving the above differential equation and ignoring the transient terms, For
steady state oscillations stress as a function of loading frequency is given by,




2 2
iE2
it
(t) = 0 e
E1 + E2
+
(21)
1 + 2 2
1 + w2 2
Where;
2 2

t
Storage Modulus=E 0 : E1 + E2 ( 1+
2 2 )

Loss Modulus:E 00 =

iE2
1+w2 2

Complex Modulus: E = E 0 + iE 00
The storage modulus(Youngs modulus) is defined as the component in phase
of the applied strain while other component, Loss modulus is related to the
.
energy lost by the material and hence is out of phase by 90 deg  (t) =
iw0 eit .From 21 it is clear the the stress lags behind strain by certain angle,
called loss angle . The storage modulus represents purely elastic response
of the material, while loss modulus represents purely viscous response which
is out of phase by 90 deg. Similar to Storage and Loss Modulus, the Storage
and Loss compliance can be shown to be
StorageCompliance, J 0 =
LossCompliance, J 00 =

11

E1 + 2 t2 (E1 + E2 )
EI2 + 2 2 (E1 + E2 )2

E2
E12 + 2 t2 (E1 + E2 )2

(22)
(23)

Storage and Loss modulus are directly related to the energy dissipation
of the material at certain loading frequency via previously defined quantity,
loss factor as follows,
LossF actor : () = tan () =

E 00
E0

(24)

Where,
:Loss angle or phase angle between stress and strain
The Steady state reponse of viscoelastic material to oscillatory strain is
given via 25


(t) = 0 eit E 0 + iE 00
(25)
(t) = e0 E eit

(26)

The above equation is for any general sinusoidal loading. For sin strain
input, the stress function can be extracted as follows,
 = 0 sin (t)


(t) = Im 0 E eiwt
using Eulers Identity we get,



(t) = 0 Im E 0 + iE 00 [cos (wt) + isin (t)]


(t) = 0 E 0 sin (wt) + E 00 cos (t)
5.2.2

(27)
(28)

(29)

(30)

Variation with Frequency

Using 21, storage modulus, loss modulus and loss factor can be plotted for
certain SLS solid at various frequency.

5.3

Wiechert Model

As seen from the spectrum of storage and loss modulus, a single Maxwell
element does not capture behaviour of real materials as the storage modulus
decays too rapdly. This can be overcome by using multiple Maxwell models

12

Figure 5
in the SLS, also called as Wiechert model. The solution for stress relaxation
and the relaxation modulus is given by,
!
n
X
t
(t) = 0 E +
(31)
Ei e i
i=1

Where,E is the equilibrium modulus. Hence,modulus can be defined as,

E(t) = E +

n
X

Ei e i

(32)

i=1

The above series is called Prony series via which, experimental curve can
be fitted with many such maxwell models. An alternate form which relates
elastic modulus to equilibrium modulus is also useful,
E(0) = E +

n
X

Ei

(33)


t 
Ei 1 e i

(34)

i=1

Therefore,
E(t) = E0

n
X
i=1

identical series can be given for shear and bulk modulus.

13

5.4

Viscoelasticity in ABAQUS

Since Abaqus FE is the primary FE tool used for this study, it is important
to understand how it handles viscoelasticity. Abaqus assumes time-domain
viscoelasticity to be defined by Prony series expansion. Prony series terms
can be indiviudally defined, or can be caluculated by Abaqus based on given
Creep test data, Relaxation test data or Frequency dependent data. It also
allows the definition of instantaneous or equilibrium youngs modulus. The
inpur parameters of prony series are given by normalized tems Abaqus uses
the time domain viscoelastic data only in the Dynamic Implicit analysis
step and frequency domain data in Steady State Direct dynamic analysis, subspace-based steady state, nautral and complex frequency extraction
steps. Dynamic implicit analysis step was chosen for this study to make the
anaylsis very general, allowing inclusion of study of heat generation due to
vibration in composite structures at a later stage. The prony series input for
abaqus is required in normalized form as follows from 34 for Shear modulus,
!
N
X
t
G(t) = G0 g +
gi e
(35)
i=1

Where, gi is the relative moduli term

The primary objective of this research is to establish a multi scale model
in through which damping and strength prediction of composites can be
directly from properties of individual constituents. Accurate representation
of fibre and matrix is essential at microscale to obtrain accurate homogenized
property of lamina at meso scale.

Micromechnical Theory

Micromechanical analysis is essential in developing macroscopic constitutive equations for heterogeneous materials. Micromechanical analysis helps
to understand effect of fibre size, shape arrangement, volume fraction as
well as give information about the average and localized deformation. The
fundamental problem in micromechanical of heteogenous materials is the
determination of stress and strain concentration tensors averaged over the
the volume.
The average or homogenized stress and strain fields are extracted as
below,
Z
1
ij =
ij (x, y, z) dV
(36)
V V
14

Figure 6: Geometric representation of a)Statistically heterogenous microstructure charactirized by RVE b)Periodic Microstructure Characterized
by RUC
and,
1
ij =
V

Z
ij (x, y, z) dV

(37)

The method of explicitly taking in account of heterogeniety of composite

micro structure can be classified into statistical homogeniety and periodicity.
The concept of Repeating Unit Cell(RUC) is based on assumption of periodic arrangement of fibres in a matrix, usually square or hexagonal packing.
RUC is the smallest building block of such arrangement and the response of
entire macroscopic is equiavalent to that of RUC under any given loading.In
reality however, fibres are randomly distributed in a matrix at microscopic
level. The concept of statiscal homogenity explicitly takes into account of
the actual stochastic nature of actual microstrucutre. Analysis of statiscally
homogenous materials is based on the representative volume element(RVE)
concept. Kanit defines RVE as a volume V of heterogeneous material that is
sufficiently large to be statistically representative of the composite, i.e. to effectively include a sampling of all the microstructural heterogeneities(fibres,
voids) that occur in the composite. The number of inclusions required to
be modelled in a RVE needs to be determined statistically.
Boundary conditions heavily influence the homogenized properties and
convergence of the microscopic properties. Three boundary conditions used
for homogenization are mentioned below.
Kinematic uniform boundary condition (Displacement boundary conditon): Displacement u is imposed at point x belonging to a boundary
V such that
ui = Eij xj x V
(38)
15

Figure 7
This enforces certain displament on every point on a boundary.
Static uniform boundary condition (Traction boundary condition):
The traction vector is prescribed at the boundary
tij = ij nj

x V

(39)

where, n is the vector normal to V

Since, the periodic array of RUC and RVE represents a continuous physical
body, two continuity conditions must by satisfied at the boundary of neighbouring RUCs. Displacement over the opposite edges must be continuous,
meaning the RVEs cannot overlap or separate from neighbours. Also the
traction on the opposite sides must be zero. These periodic boundary conditions allows the RUC to be assembled making a continuous physical body.
For two points on opposite boundaries
ui (x0 + d) = ui (x0 ) + ij dj and ti (x0 + d) + ti (x0 ) = 0

(40)

where d is the characteristic length scale of the microstructire. Periodic

boundary conditions have shown to give better results and convergence and
will be used in this study.

7
7.1

Finite Element Analysis

Square and Hexagonal Array

Aim of this study was to understand variation of damping and elastic modulus in a two phase composite with respect to volume fraction and geometrical
16

Figure 8
Material
Fibre
Matrix

E GPa
50
2.76

v
0.1
0.38

Density (kg/m3)
2580
1200

arrangement of fibres subject to loading at particular frequency and periodic boundary conditions. Only Axial and transverse damping and elastic
moduli were studied with an aim to extend to shear loading in future.
7.1.1

Model and Materials

A FE model was created in Abaqus CAE with shown in ??. Modelling was
done with help of python scripts, via which the effect of volume fraction
could be modelled easily. The volume fractions of 0.2,0.4,0.6 and 0.7 were
studied for both square and hexagonal array. Glass fibre of diameter 10
was modelled as being elastic. A hypothetical material was considered as
matrix with a single term prony series.
As previously discussed, Abaqus requires normalized prony terms as input. Viscoelastic Property of matrix was input in time domain as follows
gi
0.6

ki
0.6

20

17

Volume Fraction
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.7

Square
1860
1680
1680
1680

Hexagonal
18700
7500
4200
3421

Figure 9
7.1.2

Mesh

8-node linear brick 3D stress elements were used for meshing. A mesh convergence study was performed and the required elements are given in the
table ??
7.1.3

Boundary Conditions and Loading

A harmonic sin strain at a circular frequency of 0.02 rad/s with an amplitude of 1%, applied on Z+ and Y+ face (??) were considered in two separate
analysis. In each analysis, the Y- face was constrained in Y direction. Periodic Boundary conditions were employed in the X+ and X- face for each pair
of node opposite to each other. This was done via python script, given in
Appendix. Nodal reaction forces at the Z+(or Y+) faces were summed and
divided by the area to obtain the average stress response. Given the strain
response, the storage and loss modulus were calculated using the hysteresis
loop approach 10. Damping was obtained in terms of loss factor 24.

18

Figure 10: Hysterisis plot

7.2

Stochastic Fibre Model

Since results of periodic array show minimal variation of axial properties,

only tranverse properties were studied in stochastic fibre model.Creation of
randomly placed fibre in a matrix is not a trivial problem, especially at
higher volume fractions of 0.6 and 0.7. A python script was created using
SCIPY package. The length of the square RVE was fixed at 0.125mm i.e.
typical thickness of a lamina. The algorithm is as follows,
1. For a given volume fraction, calculate number of fibres required in the
RVE
2. Randomly create required amount of circles of a given radius 10 in
the RVE
3. Define constraints between two circles and between RVE boundary and
circles for e.g. minimum distance between fibres to avoid touching
4. Use scipy optimize package to fit the circles subject to defined constraints
5. Extract the coordinates of the circles to be used as an input in Abaqus
19

This resulted in average of 54, 92 and 130 fibres for 0.3,0.5 and 0.7 volume
fractions respectively. Four noded Plain strain elements were used for the
2D simulations. Based on mesh convergence study results, the global mesh
size was set at 1.2 and 39 nodes were created along the circumference of
each fibre. Also a minimum size control fraction was set at 0.01. This
resulted in 29869, 31250, 32295 elements for volume fractions of 0.3,0.5 and
0.7 respectively.
Two different realization of model at volume fractions of 0.3,0.5 and 0.7
are as given below.

7.3

Checkerboard Model

Explicitly modelling fibres is more accurate but computationally very expensive. A binary voxel model is proposed in which the RVE is discretized
into square grid, where each element represents either matrix or fibre. This
model is not expected to predict correct localizations due to square inclusions. However, the homogenized properties are of interest and would result
in substantial decrease in computational requirements. The matrix and fibres are considered perfectly bonded. RVE of 0.125mm was discretized into
square grid. Fibres were disperesed randomly using in the RVE based on
volume fraction. The model is as shown below,
At higher volume fraction, substantial clustering of fibres is evident
which doesnt reflect true geometry of the composite material.

Results and Discussion

8.1

Analytical results

FE simulation results will be compared with the theoretical calcullations via

Rules of Mixtures and Hashin-Shitrikmann bounds.
8.1.1

Rules of Mixtures

The rules of mixtures are widely used to predict strength of composites

in axial and traverse direction. By using correspondence principle, they
can be extended to viscoelastic materials. Rules of mixtures are based on
assumptions of isostress and isostrain and do not include information regarding fibre microstructure or interaction between fibres. However, ROM
and IROM would provide absolute upper and lower bounds for elastic and
damping properties to validate FE simulations.

20

(a) Vf=0.3

(b) Vf=0.3

(c) Vf=0.5

(d) Vf=0.5

(e) Vf=0.7

(f) Vf=0.7

Figure 11: 3 x 2

21

(a) Vf=0.3

(b) Vf=0.5

(c) Vf=0.7

Figure 12: Binary Voxel Mesh Green-Fibres, Cream-Matrix

In axial directon the rules of mixtures,

= vf Ef + vm Em
Eaxial

(41)

substituting for complex terms,

00
0
00
E 0 composite +iEaxial
= vf (Ef0 + iEf00 ) + vm (Em
+ iEm
)

(42)

Where,

0
00
Eaxial
= Eaxial
+ iEaxial

LossF actor = axial =

0
Eaxial
00
Eaxial

For Tranverse direction, using inverse rules of mixtures,

1

Etranverse

vf
vm
+
Ef
Em

(43)

again the complex transverse moduli can be found by substituion of complex

terms in above equations. Below is the example given for transverse storage
modulus,


 


0 + v E0
0 E 00 E 00 + E 00 E 0 + E 0 E 00
00 + v E 0
vf Em
Ef0 Em
v
E
m f
m
f
m
f m
f m
f m
f
0
Etransverse
=

2


0 + v E 0 2 + v E 00 + v E 00
vf Em
m f
m F
f m
(44)

22

8.1.2

Hashin and Hashin-Shtrikman Bounds

Hashin-Shtrikman developed tightest possible bounds for elastic properties

of two phase composite materials, using variational principles for arbitary
phase geometry. Hashin 1972 further developed predictions of various moduli for composites which are as given below.
bounds using cocentric cylinder arrangement(CCA) model . Using viscoelastic correspondence principles, these formulations can be used to obtain
predict axial and transverse elastic moduli and damping. The bounds for
Shear and Bulk modulus for a composite with cylindrical inclusions are as
given below,
vf
KL = Km +
(45)
3vm
1
Kf Km + 3Km +4Gm

KH
= Kf +

GL = Gm +
GH = Gf +

vm
1
Km Kf

3vf
3Kf +4Gf

vf
1
Gf Gm

6vm (Km +2Gm )

5Gm (3Km +4Gm )

vm
1
Gm Gf

6vf (Kf +2Gf )

(46)
(47)
(48)

5Gf (3Kf +4Gf )

Where subscripts L and H correspond to lower and higher bounds and m and
f subscripts refere to matrix and fibres respectively. Corresponding bounds
on complex Youngs modulus were obtain by using correspondence principle
9KG
and 3K+G

FE Results

The FE models were used to study the effect of volume fraction and fibre
arrangement on axial and transverse elastic modulus and damping. In this
section, the stress plots for yy and xy for square, hexagonal and random
array for different volume fractions are as given below are given below. The
FE results are then compared to Rules of mixtures and Hashin prediction.
, there is no significant influence of fibre arrangement
From figure
on the axial storage modulus. The FE results are in excellent agreement
with ROM and Hashin prediction. In the direction of fibres, the property of
composite is highly dependent on fibres even at low volume fractions. Since
the fibres are modelled as elastic, axial loss factor falls quickly to about 10 %
that of the matrix at volume fraction of 0.2. Negligible damping is expected
23

in the direction of fibres. In order to achieve high damping in axial direction,

lossy fibres like aramid or kevlar must be considered. Again, no influence of
the packing arrangement is observed on the axial damping of composite.
Graph 9 show significant difference between theoretical and FE results.
Rules of mixtures are unsuitable to predict loss modulus and damping in
transverse direction. Hashin theory provides better predicition of transverse
properties due to the fact that it is based on CCA model and carries information regarding fibre packing. Fibre arrangement affects the modulus
and damping at higher volume fractions volume fractions (vf>0.4). Graphs9
and 9 show that square array predicts higher modulus and lower damping
compared to theory and hexagonal array. At higher volume fractions it is
important model information regarding fibre interactions, which is absent
in the square unit cell. It is also known that viscoelastic damping is more
affected by shear stresses. It is evident from figure??b and figure??, that
shear stress zones are much larger in hexagonal cell than in square cell.Hence
square cell produces more stiffer response, this matches with findings of
Brinson & Lin and Tsai &Chi. Figure ?? again shows formation of shear
bands and strong fibre interactions. However at higher volume fraction this
effect reduces and hence reduction in damping.
The checkerboard model gives good prediction for vf <0.3. However
at higher volume fractions, fibres tend to cluster together resulting in increased stress concentrations as given in ??. This results in overestimation
of stiffness and underestimation of damping. This model requires further
refinement which will be carried out in next stage of project.
Conclusion A through micromechanical study has been undertaken to
predict stiffness and damping of composite in terms of its constituents. The
effect of volume fraction and fibre arrangement has been studied and compared to theory and explicit random fibre simulations. The axial stiffness
and damping are independent of fibre arrangement and are solely dependent
on volume fraction. Transverse property show greater dependence on fibre
arrangement. Hexagonal arrangement predicts better results compared to
square arrangement in transverse direction.

24

(a) Vf=0.4

(b) Vf=0.4

(c) Vf=0.6

(d) Vf=0.6

Figure 13: Stress Plots for Square Array

25

(a) Vf=0.4

(b) Vf=0.4

(c) Vf=0.6

(d) Vf=0.6

Figure 14: Stress Plots for Hexagonal Array

26

(a) Vf=0.3

(b) Vf=0.3

(c) Vf=0.5

(d) Vf=0.5

(e) Vf=0.7

(f) Vf=0.7

Figure 15: Stress Plots for Randomly distributed fibres

27

(a) Vf=0.3

(b) Vf=0.3

(c) Vf=0.5

(d) Vf=0.5

(e) Vf=0.7

(f) Vf=0.7

Figure 16: Stress Plots for Randomly distributed fibres

28

0
E11
Ef0

Normalized Storage Modulus

ROM
Hashin
Square
Hex

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

Normalized Loss Factor

22
m

0.2

0.4
0.6
0.8
Volume Fraction

ROM
Hashin
Square
Hex

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
0.8
Volume Fraction

29

0
E22
0
Em

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
0.8
Volume Fraction

Normalized Loss Factor Transverse

22
m

Normalized Storage Modulus Transverse

ROM
Hashin
Square
Hex
Random
Checkerboard

ROM
Hashin
Square
Hex
Checkerboard

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
0.8
Volume Fraction

30