4.

FAILURE OF COMPOSITES

DURABILITY OF POLYMERIC Prof. Roberto Frassine - Course of the Master of Science in

AND COMPOSITE MATERIALS MATERIALS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING
 COMPOSITE MATERIALS: MICROSTRUCTURE

FIBRE + MATRIX

crosslinked
unidirectional
(ex. epoxies)
continuous woven polymeric
thermoplastic
(non-woven) (ex. polyamides)
ceramic

discontinuous metal

HETEROGENEOUS / ANISOTROPIC MATERIAL

 HETEROGENEOUS ANISOTROPIC

COMPOSITION
(and properties) P'
PROPERTIES y
DEPEND
DEPEND ON THE ON THE INPUT
P
POSITION DIRECTION P x

IN DESIGN PRACTICE:

MICROSTRUCTURE scale << APPLICATION scale

(conventional structural applications)

... IT IS CUSTOMARY TO NEGLECT HETEROGENEITY

(... BUT NOT COMPOSITION!)
MATERIAL MODEL 3 σ3
τ32
linear elastic 2 τ23
homogeneous [ ]
ε = Sij σ 1
σ2 τ12
anisotropic σ1

+ 180
orthotropic simmetry &
plane stress (1-2 plane)

1
180
ν 12
0
E1 E1 3

ν12 1
Sij =
[ ] 0
2

E1 E2 1

1
0 0
G12
UNIDIRECTIONAL PLY:

highly asymmetrical
tension/compression

tensile strenght

1.98 GPa

compressive strenght

1.32 GPa
TENSILE FAILURE IN THE FIBRE DIRECTION
UNIDIRECTIONAL PLY:

highly asymmetrical
0°/90°

tensile strenght @ 0°

1.98 GPa

tensile strenght @ 90°

0,076 GPa
 FAILURE
EXAMPLES

unidirectional
laminate [0]12

[0/90/+45/-45]s
laminate
AXIAL FAILURE MECHANISMS (LOADING ALONG DIRECTION 1)

MATRIX: BRITTLE BEHAVIOUR

FIBRE/MATRIX ADHESION: GOOD

FIBRE/MATRIX ADHESION: POOR

FIBRE: HIGH ELONGATION AT FAILURE

MATRIX: TOUGH BEHAVIOUR

FIBRE/MATRIX ADHESION: GOOD

AXIAL FAILURE MECHANISMS (LOADING ALONG DIRECTION 1)

formation of localized
damage bands due to
local geometrical
instability of the fibres
(KINKS)

example of compressive
failure due to axial loading
TRANSVERSAL FAILURE MECHANISMS (LOADING ALONG DIRECTION 2)

MECHANISM OF MATRIX
MICROCRACKING
(final failure occurs
due to crack coalescence)
DELAMINATION (LOADING ALONG DIRECTION 3)

fundamental “modes” for initiation and

propagation of delaminations
(ply debonding ...)

delamination example
DELAMINATIONS MAY DEVELOP DUE TO IMPACT ...
 SUPERFICI DI FRATTURA DI MATERIALI COMPOSITI

FRATTURA
PER ROTTURA
DELLE FIBRE
 SUPERFICI DI FRATTURA DI MATERIALI COMPOSITI

POSSIBILE
MECCANISMO
DISSIPATIVO:
"PULL-OUT"
 SUPERFICI DI FRATTURA DI MATERIALI COMPOSITI

TESSUTO
 SUPERFICI DI FRATTURA DI MATERIALI COMPOSITI

CEDIMENTO
DELLE FIBRE
PER
COMPRESSIONE
 SUPERFICI DI FRATTURA DI MATERIALI COMPOSITI

FRATTURA
INTERLAMINARE
SUPERFICI DI FRATTURA DI MATERIALI COMPOSITI

FRATTURA
INTERLAMINARE
SUPERFICI DI FRATTURA DI MATERIALI COMPOSITI
SUPERFICI DI FRATTURA DI MATERIALI COMPOSITI
FAILURE CRITERIA FOR COMPOSITES
MAXIMUM STRESS CRITERION

σ1 < X in which X, Y, S are

the material’s strenght
σ2 < Y for normal (1 and 2) and shear (12)
τ12 < S loading conditions

for a loading direction “x” - tilted to an

angle θ with respect to the material’s
principal direction 1 - we obtain:

σx < X / cos2 θ
σx < Y / sen2 θ
σx < S / sen θ cos θ
MAXIMUM STRESS CRITERION
TSAI-HILL criterion:
extension of the von Mises criterion
to anisotropic materials
(maximum allowed
distorsional energy)

cos4 θ / X2 +
cos2 θ sen2 θ
(1/S2 - 1/X2) +
sen4 θ / Y2 =
1 / σx 2

ONE SINGLE EQUATION

(instead of three)
VOCABULARY + DATABASE

http://composite.about.com/

FAILURE CRITERIA

http://www.composites.northwestern.edu/webcomp/
by I.M. Daniel (Nortwestern University, USA)
This is a public website designed for the stress and failure analysis for laminate composites. The symbols
and notations are based on the classical lamination theory as presented in the book "Engineering Mechanics
of Composite Materials", 1994, Oxford University Press, Inc., by Prof. Isaac M. Daniel and Ori Ishai.
This website provides tools for computation of laminate stiffnesses ([A], [B] and [D]), compliances ([a], [b],
[c] and [d]), laminate deformation, lamina stresses/strains, failure sequences, failure envelopes, off-axis
loading graphs, and many other features.

• Basic Stress/Failure Analysis

• Failure Envelopes
• Off-axis Analysis
Off-axis Strength
Off-axis Hygrothermoelastic Properties
• Layup Ply Angle Analysis
Composite Strength for Varying Ply Angles
Hygrothermoelastic Properties for Varying Ply Angles
• Large Panel Warpage Analysis