Composites Science and Technology 56 (1996) 581-593 0 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Limited Printed in Northern Ireland.

All rights reserved ELSEVIER SO266-3538(96)00045-O 0266.3538/96/$15.00

EFFECT OF FIBER WAVINESS ON STIFFNESS AND STRENGTH REDUCTION OF UNIDIRECTIONAL COMPOSITES UNDER COMPRESSIVE LOADING

H. M. Hsiao & I. M. Daniel*

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA

(Received 11 September 1995; revised version received 4 January 1996; accepted 1 February 1996) Abstract
An investigation has been conducted of the effect of fiber waviness on stiffness and strength reduction of unidirectional composites under compressive loading. Analytical models have been developed for determining the elastic properties and compressive strength as a function of fiber waviness for three types of wavy patterns: uniform, graded and localized waviness. Compression tests were conducted to verify the predictions. Experimental results were in good agreement with predictions based on the analytical models. It is shown that in unidirectional composites both major Youngs modulus and compressive strength are degraded seriously with increasing fiber waviness. Material anisotropy is also shown to influence the degree of stiffness and strength reduction. Interlaminar shear failure was found to be the dominant failure mechanism for unidirectional wavy composites under compressive loading. 0 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Limited Keywords: thick composites, fiber waviness, stiffness reduction, strength reduction, classical lamination theory, incremental analysis, compression testing of composites, failure of composites, interlaminar shear failure

1 INTRODUCTION Fiber waviness is a type of manufacturing defect that occurs particularly during the filament-winding process. It results from local buckling of prepreg or wet hoop-wound filament strands under the pressure exerted by the overwrapped layers. Inspection of cylinder microstructures often reveals localized regions of layer waviness in the hoop direction resulting from post consolidation and cure shrinkage., Layer waviness occurs also in thick crossply or multidirectional laminates as a consequence of lamination residual stresses built up during curing.3 Fiber/layer * To whom correspondence should be addressed.
581

waviness represents one major factor that may partially explain why stress and failure analyses of hydrostatically loaded composite cylinders based on properties obtained from flat and autoclave-cured specimens do not correlate well with cylinder test results.,2 With increasing use of thick composite structures under compressive loading, the effect of fiber waviness becomes an important issue. The analytical approach specifically addressed to the prediction of the major Youngs modulus of wavy composites was originated by Tarnopolskii et a1.4 They assumed that the fibers are sinusoidally curved with an initial deflection. Inserting this expression into the transformation equations and integrating over a half wavelength, they obtained the major Youngs modulus for composites with uniform fiber waviness. Chou and Takahashi and Kuo et a1.6 developed a similar model for investigating the longitudinal and transverse tensile behavior of flexible composites for iso-phase and random-phase cases. Ishikawa and Chou,* investigated the effect of layer waviness on thermo-mechanical behavior of woven fabric composites based on classical lamination theory. Good correlation with experimental thermo-mechanical properties of woven fabric composites was reported. Bogetti et a1.9- also applied laminate theory to predict the effective laminate behavior of thermoplastic composites associated with layer waviness. Their analysis predicted individual ply stress and strain distributions as well as ply failure in local regions, Other workers12-14 studied the effect of localized layer waviness on the stress states in hydrostatically loaded cylinders on the basis of finite element analysis. They observed significant interlaminar stresses in wavy plies and found material property variations to be important factors. The present paper describes an investigation of the effect of fiber waviness on stiffness and strength reduction of unidirectional composites under compressive loading. Analytical models were developed for the prediction of the stiffness and strength

582

H. M. Hsiao. I. M. Daniel

reduction as a function of fiber waviness for three types of wavy patterns: uniform, graded and localized waviness. Elastic properties and compressive strength were also determined experimentally for wavy composites by compression tests and results were compared with analytical predictions. 2 ANALYSIS
2.1 Geometry of fiber waviness
Fig. 2. Representative volume and coordinates unidirectional composite with graded waviness. for a

In order to quantify the effect of fiber waviness on stiffness and strength reduction of unidirectional composites under compressive loading, mathematical descriptions of the wave geometries are required. For the cases of uniform and graded waviness it is sufficient to consider a representative volume element encompassing one period of the waviness. For uniform waviness the geometry of the waviness is assumed to be planar sinusoidal in the xz plane with an amplitude defined by (Fig. 1):
u = A sin ~ L 2xX

assumed to decay linearly through the thickness from a maximum to zero at some distance inside the laminate.
2.2 Effective elastic properties

where A and L are the amplitude and wavelength of the wavy fiber, respectively. For graded waviness the geometry of the waviness is approximated by (Fig. 2):

where the amplitude of the waviness is assumed to decay linearly from a maximum at the midsurface to zero on the outer surfaces. Localized waviness is an out-of-plane perturbation in the ply orientation of an otherwise straight ply configuration. A representative volume element containing a single period of localized waviness is shown in Fig. 3. The amplitude of the waviness is

In order to calculate the effective elastic properties for the case of uniform waviness, the representative volume element in Fig. 1 is divided into infinitesimally thin slices of thickness dx, x being the axis along the aligned fiber and loading directions. Each slice is treated as an off-axis unidirectional lamina and its compliances are obtained from the compliance transformation relationships. The strains are then integrated over one wavelength in the loading (x) direction to obtain the average strains in the representative volume. The elastic properties of the composite are determined from these average strains. For example, the average axial strain E, for an applied stress 6, is obtained from the relationship:

IL

Jo

(3)

where x is the abscissa of the waveform, L is the wavelength (or period) and S,, is the transformed compliance of the slice in the x direction and is a

Fig.

1. Representative volume and coordinates for unidirectional composite with uniform waviness.

Fig.

3. Representative volume and coordinates for unidirectional composite with localized waviness.

Stifiess

and strength reduction of unidirectional composites

583

function of x. The following expression the integration:

results from

E;;= [S11&+ (2S12 + SC& + S&l&

(4)

The other average strain components are obtained in a similar manner. The effective elastic properties are obtained from the following equations:15,6
E, = ___

1
S66V3 + $215

S1*&+ (2S12+
s12z6 &IA + WI2

+ +

s23z8 S66)Z3 + S2J5

Y xy=

(S,, v xz= sl,&

s2, +

(2$2

S,,)I, +

&*vl+ +

15) s~22~5

and S, = compliance matrix of unidirectional aligned composite with i,j = 1,2,6. In the above, the predictions of longitudinal and transverse Youngs moduli are the same as those obtained previously.Similarly, the effective elastic properties for the case of graded waviness (Fig. 2) can be obtained by dividing the representative volume into infinitesimally small elements. The strains are then integrated over one wavelength and through the thickness to obtain the average strains in the representative volume. For the case of graded waviness, the average transformed compliances, S,, over one wavelength are: SijdxdZ
(i,j = x,y,z,q,rJ)

s66)13

(7)

Ey=$
2

sl2z6 vyx= -

s23&

S22
s23l6 + &2z8

vyr=

S22

(5) 1

where Sij = transformed compliance matrix of unidirectional off-axis composite with ij = x,y,z,q,r,s. The expressions for the elastic properties for the graded-waviness model are the same as those for uniform waviness, except for the different definitions of the 4 terms. These are obtained by double integration and are summarized as follows:

E, =
SllZ5 + m2 y_ &x SllZ5 + = _ (Sll +s22

S66)Z3

s224

-S,,)Z3 WI2 +

+sl2(4 S66)Z3 +

+z55) S22Zl

s2316 Y ty= &,z5 + (2sl2

+ +

sl2& s66)l, + s22zl

G, =
w22 G,z = 2(s22 -

1
S23)43 + S66Z6

1
s23)& + s66z8

1 G, = where 1 + a212 1 = (1 + a2)3/2 CY2/2

'3 = (1 + a2)3/2

4(S11 +

s22

%,)I3

s66@1

213

&)

z 5

=1

I+ 3&2 (1 + cY2)32

(6)

In the case of localized waviness, the reference volume of the material/specimen consists of a portion containing graded waviness with average transformed compliances Sij (ij = x,y,z,q,r,s), and a portion without waviness and compliances Sij (i,j = 1,2,3,4,5,6) (Fig. 3). The average transformed compliances of the wavy portion are obtained from eqn (7) by substituting for h and L, the thickness and waviness period of the wavy segment. Then, the average compliances for the entire reference volume can be expressed in a simple rule-of-mixture form as:
l!?ij =

(1 - Vw)Sij+ l&S,

(9)

where VW is the waviness volume ratio (volume of wavy portion/total volume), S, is the compliance matrix of unidirectional aligned composite (i,j = l-6),

584

H. M. Hsiao, I. M. Daniel

and 3, is the average transformed compliance matrix of graded-waviness portion (eqn (7)) (i,j = x,y,z,q,r,s). For example, the major Youngs modulus and Poissons ratios are expressed as: 1

are computed for each element with out-of-plane fiber orientation considered. The effective elastic properties used to calculate the Qc values in each element are a function of the out-of-plane orientation angle, 8, and are given by: 1 E,(e) = S,,m4 + (2& + S,,)fY?n~ + s*,n4
Sl,m2 + S,,n2 Sllm4 + (2&, + S,,)mn + S,,n (14)

yX,(e) = -

yxz =

E,(e) =s_
22 1 Gy(f.9 =

2(S22 - S,,)n + S,,m2

2.3 Stress analysis and strength prediction

Stresses and strains were analysed on the basis of classical lamination theory and incremental analysis. The Tsai-Wu failure criterion was used to predict local ply failures. For the cases of graded and localized waviness, a progressive damage methodology was used to allow stress redistribution after failure initiation. Property degradation was taken into account in investigating damage growth in these cases. 2.4 Classical lamination theory Recall that the resultant forces and moments for a laminate under plane stress can be expressed in terms of the middle surface extensional strains and overall laminate curvatures as?*

where the laminate stiffnesses A,, B, and D, are given by:

k=l

B, = ISI (Qij)k i (hZk - h*k-1)

k=l

(i,j = X,Y,S)

(12)

where m = cos 8, n = sin 8 and S, = compliance matrix of unidirectional aligned composite with i,j = 1,2,6. An analogous lamination theory is then applied to each discrete segment of width dx along the x axis within the representative volume. The basic assumption is that the classical lamination theory is applicable to each segment along the x axis. The effective A, B and D stiffness matrices for each segment are computed by eqn (12), yielding the x-dependent A, B and D stiffness matrices. The effective a, b and d compliance matrices for each segment are computed by inversion of the entire 6 X 6 stiffness.matrix in eqn (14). For wavy composites under axial compression, local out-of-plane bending deformations are induced due to the shear coupling behavior. However, no global out-of-plane bending is expected in wavy composites since their effective response remains orthotropic on the average. Therefore, a state free of bending deformation is considered by imposing a local bending constraint on each dx segment in the representative volume. Under the local bending constraint, zero curvature and non-zero moment conditions are imposed. The in-plane compliance matrix of each dx segment for the state without bending deformation can be expressed as a function of the effective a, b and d compliance matrices defined in eqn (13): [a*1 =

Dij = 2
k=l

(Qij)k i (h3k - h3k_l)

[al - [blW[bl

(15)
compliance

where a* is the new effective in-plane matrix with local bending constrained. through

An alternative form of eqn (12) is obtained matrix inversion and is given by:

[:I FJs1 = [a

(13)

where aij, b, and dij are the laminate comphances. In order to calculate individual ply stresses and strains, the representative volumes shown in Figs l-3 are discretized into small elements. The Q, values

2.5 Incremental analysis The incremental strategy used here applies equal and successive load increments, AC, to the representative volume and continues to monitor the resulting stress/strain behavior. For each load increment applied to the representative volume, the strain increment within each dx segment is:

Stifiess

and strength reduction of unidirectional composites

585

and the stress increment within each element is:

(in the n and y directions)

{ACi}f;+, [Q,lf;{A~lL+, =

(17)

where a* is the new compliance matrix in eqn (15) at the end of the nth load increment, 1 and k are the element numbers in the x and z directions, respectively, and h is the laminate thickness. For each applied load increment, the effective strain increment for the entire representative volume is:

(18)
where m is the total number of segments in the representative volume. This strain increment is added to the previous strain to obtain the current average strain, i.e. {Ei),+l = {Ei}n+ {A&-l>,+, for the current average stress: {cji>n+l= {@j), + {AGj;i>,+i The current stresses (in the x and y directions) each element are: {ai}f;t1={Oi}f; + {Aai}f;+l (20) within (19)

determine if the element is damaged or not. As the load increases, some elements may suffer damage, which results in degradation of material properties. In this analysis, the Q, values associated with the damaged elements were set arbitrarily small for subsequent calculations. Accordingly, the damaged elements remain approximately at their current stress levels and are prevented from carrying additional stresses during subsequent incremental loading. Once damage occurs, the stresses in the laminate are redistributed due to the reduction of material properties in some damaged elements. The damage may propagate as a result of this stress redistribution. Furthermore, the damage can propagate throughout the laminate if the ultimate load is reached. It is noted that the validity of the classical lamination theory for the failed region is the basic assumption of the present research. In addition to the Tsai-Wu criterion, the maximum stress criterion was used in the case of graded waviness, for comparison purposes. 2.7 Numerical procedures The numerical procedure following steps:

followed

consists

of the

(21)

Equations (16)-(21) provide the stresses in each element referred to the global x and y axes over the prescribed load history. Since the waviness is undulating out of the x-y plane, interlaminar shear stress, r13 and transverse normal stress, u3, components will develop. These stresses result from the stress a, and are computed through tensor transformation of cr,. Each element within the representative volume will contain pi, gz2, V~ and ri3 stress components as a function of x due to the out-of-plane waviness. By examing the variation of these stresses, fundamental insight into the dominant failure mechanisms can be obtained. In the incremental analysis described above, the geometric non-linearity due to changing fiber waviness with increasing load was neglected. This can be justified in this case because the ultimate strain was small (less than 1%). Bogetti et aZ.lO*also neglected the geometric non-linearity for the case of crossply composite laminates. Other workers5,6,17 on the other hand considered changes in fiber orientation and extended the applicability of their incremental analysis to larger strains in flexible and hybrid composites. 2.6 Failure criterion The Tsai-Wu failure criterion was the primary one used in this analysis. During incremental loading, the stresses in the principal material directions within each element were calculated. These stresses were then introduced into the Tsai-Wu failure criterion to

5. 6.

7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12.

increase the applied stress by a small increment; calculate incremental strains for each dx segment from eqn (17); calculate incremental stresses for each element from eqn (18); update the total average stresses and total average strains for the entire representative volume from eqns (19)-(21); update the total stresses for each element from eqn (22); calculate the stresses in the principal material directions for each element through tensor transformation; assess damage using Tsai-Wu failure criterion for each element; (a) return to step (1) if no damage occurs; (b) continue if damage occurs; (a) stop if damage has propagated across the laminate and no more load can be added; (b) otherwise continue; update material properties for each element; recalculate [a*] matrix; return to step (1) and redistribute stresses in the laminate.

3 EXPERIMENTAL 3.1 Material and specimen fabrication

The materials investigated in this study were IM6G/3501-6 carbon/epoxy composite (Hercules Inc.) and S-glass/epoxy composite. Material properties for

586
unidirectional Table 1. Properties of carbon/epoxy composite Properties Fiber volume ratio, V, Longitudinal modulus, E, Transverse modulus, E, In-plane shear modulus, G12 Major Poissons ratio, Y,~ Longitudinal tensile strength, F,, Transverse tensile strength, & In-plane shear strength, fiz (F,) Longitudinal compressive strength,

H. M. Hsiao, I. M. Daniel
IM6G/3501-6

Value 0.66 169.0 GPa (24.5 Msi) 9.0 GPa (1.30 Msi) 6.5 GPa (0.94 Msi) 0.31 2236 MPa (324 ksi) 46.2 MPa (6.7 ksi) 72.8 MPa (10.6 ksi) F,, 1682 MPa (244 ksi)

Transverse compressive strength, F,,

213 MPa (30.9 ksi)

Fig. 4. Unidirectional 150-ply carbon/epoxy composite with uniform fiber waviness produced by the tape-winding method.

the unidirectional material are given in Table 1 and Table 2.3,18 Techniques were developed for fabrication of thick specimens with controlled waviness. Unidirectional composites with uniform waviness across the thickness were prepared by a tape-winding method. The prepreg tape was wound around a rectangular mandrel with rounded ends and the entire layup was enclosed in a mold and cured in an autoclave following a curing cycle developed specifically for thick composites.3 This resulted in composites with plies of sine-wave shape of uniform amplitude through the thickness. A photograph of a fabricated 150-ply unidirectional composite with uniform through-thethickness sinusoidal waviness is shown in Fig. 4. Unidirectional specimens were also fabricated with graded waviness using a three-step curing method. The concept of this method is to partially cure the middle and outer layers into wavy and flat shapes, respectively, and then sandwich them with uncured prepreg between them and co-cure the entire layup. This technique produced flat unidirectional composite plates in which the amplitude of the sine-wave changes gradually from a maximum at the center to zero on the outer layers. A photograph of a fabricated 72-ply unidirectional composite with fiber waviness varying from a maximum at the midsurface to zero on the outer surfaces is shown in Fig. 5.
Table 2. Properties unidirectional of composite S-glass/epoxy

3.2 Test procedure Compression tests were conducted on unidirectional laminates with and without fiber waviness. These tests were conducted with a recently developed compression test method/fixture (NU fixture) incorporating both shear loading and end loading concepts. This fixture is basically a modified IITRI fixture (Fig. 6). The concept of this fixture is to transmit the initial load (up to 25% of the ultimate compressive strength) through the tabs by shear loading and thereafter engage the ends to apply the additional load to failure by end loading. The end loading is accomplished by inserting steel shims in the gap between the end of the specimen and the base of the fixture. The specimens were 14.6 cm (5.75 in) long and 1.27 cm (0.50 in) wide with various thicknesses ranging between 2.03 mm (0.080 in) and 19.05 mm (0.75 in). The specimens were tabbed with 5.40cm (2.125 in) long glass/epoxy tabs, leaving a 3.81 cm (1.50 in) long gage length. After tabbing and machining to final tolerances, steel end caps were bonded to the ends of the specimen to prevent premature crushing at the ends. Strain gages were mounted on both sides and on the edges of the specimen in the gage section. All tests were carried out in a servohydraulic testing machine while recording the strains.

Properties Fiber volume ratio, V, Longitudinal modulus, E, Transverse modulus, E, In-plane shear modulus, G1* Major Poissons ratio, v12 Longitudinal tensile strength, F,, Transverse tensile strength, & In-plane shear strength, F12 (5) Longitudinal compressive strength, F,, Transverse compressive strength, Fzc

Value 0.50 43 GPa (6.3 Msi) 8.9 GPa (I.29 Msi) 4.5 GPa (0.66 Msi) 0.27 1280 MPa (185 ksi) 49 MPa (7.1 ksi) 69 MPa (10.0 ksi) 690 MPa (100 ksi) 158 MPa (22.9 ksi)

Fig. 5. Unidirectional 72-ply carbon/epoxy graded fiber waviness produced by the method.

composite with three-step curing

Stifsness and strength reduction of unidirectional composites

587

E; = 96.5 GPa (14.0 Msi)

0
0

0.05

0. IO strain,

0.15

0.20

0.25

E , (%I

Fig.

7. Stress/strain

composite

with

curves for HO-ply uniform fiber waviness compression.

unidirectional under axial

Fig. 6. Schematic

representation of NU compression fixture.

test

4 RESULTS

AND

DISCUSSION

In this section, specific predictions of stiffness and strength reduction based on the analytical models are presented and compared with experimentally obtained properties of wavy composites. 4.1 Unidirectional composite with uniform fiber waviness Figure 4 shows the 150-ply unidirectional wavy specimen tested. The degree of waviness is characterized by the amplitude to period ratio, A/L, or the of fiber misalignment. The maximum angle, e,,,, specimen was 150 plies thick (19 mm; 0.75 in) with the following average waviness parameters: Amplitude Period Amplitude/period ratio Maximum misalignment A = 1.19 mm (0.047 in) L=27*9mm (l.lOin) AIL = 0.043 &,,, = 15

These results show that uniform waviness causes appreciable reduction in modulus, approximately 42% in this case. As far as Poissons ratios are concerned, the in-plane ratio, vi*, is higher and the out-of-plane ratio, &, is lower than the value of vlvIz y13 = 0.31 for = the aligned specimen. The results above were then compared with predictions based on the analytical constitutive model. Substituting the relevant numerical data in eqns (5) and (6) we obtain: E, = El = 93-8 GPa (13.6 Msi) Y = v;z = 0.35 xy Y =v i3 = 0.27 XZ which are in good agreement with the experimental results. Figure 8 illustrates the predicted stiffness and

The specimen was instrumented with two back-toback longitudinal gages spanning half a period of the waviness, and two transverse gages on a line spanning half a period on the 1-2 and l-3 planes. It was loaded under axial compression up to approximately 210 MPa and transverse Average Iongitudinal (30 ksi). stress/strain curves are shown in Fig. 7 from which the following initial properties were obtained: Major Youngs modulus Poissons ratios E; = 96-5 GPa (14.0 Msi) Y;* = 0.34 Yi3 = 0.27
Fig.

f 0 0.05 0. IO AIL 0.15 0.20

8. Predicted stiffness and strength reduction of IM6G/3501-6 unidirectional composite under axial compression as a function of waviness parameter A/L for uniform-waviness model.

588

H. M. Hsiao. I. M. Daniel

strength reduction of IM6G/3501-6 material as a function of waviness parameter A/L along with the experimental results. It is shown that both major Youngs modulus and compressive strength degrade seriously as the fiber waviness increases. Compressive strength is much more sensitive to fiber waviness than the major Youngs modulus, especially when A/L is small. Other properties, except for yrX and v?,, are affected less by the fiber waviness.

4.2 Unidirectional
waviness

composite

with graded fiber

waviness. In Fig. 9 both wavy and normal specimens show similar stress/strain behavior except for the strength reduction in the wavy specimens. This suggests that slight waviness does not affect the overall stress/strain behavior significantly except for strength, indicating that the non-linearity of the stress/strain behavior is primarily attributable to the matrix for specimens with low fiber waviness. The measured properties above were then compared with the analytical predictions. Substituting the relevant numerical data in eqns (5) and (8) and in the failure analysis we obtain:
E, = E; = 159 GPa (23.1 Msi) F,, = F,, = 1070 MPa (155 ksi)

Figure 5 shows the 72-ply unidirectional wavy specimen tested. The waviness parameters of the middle (most wavy) layer were: Amplitude Period Amplitude/period ratio Maximum misalignment
A = 0.29 mm (0.011 in) L = 14.5 mm (0.57 in) AIL = 0.02

&,,,, = 7.2

The specimen was loaded under axial compression to failure. Stress/strain curves for this and a normal aligned specimen are shown in Fig. 9 from which the following properties were obtained: Major Youngs modulus Compressive strength E; = 159 GPa (23-O Msi)
F;, = 1110 MPa (161 ksi)

This result shows that the particular graded waviness studied causes a slight reduction in modulus, namely 6%, but a significant 30% reduction in compressive strength compared with a normal aligned specimen. This again shows that compressive strength is much more sensitive to fiber waviness than the major Youngs modulus for a small degree of

which are in perfect agreement with the experimental results. Figure 10 illustrates the predicted stiffness and strength reduction as a function of the waviness parameter A/L along with the experimental results, for the unidirectional IM6G/3501-6 carbon/epoxy material investigated with graded fiber waviness. As in the case of uniform waviness, the properties E,, F,,, Vy* and vzx are the most sensitive to fiber waviness. The strength reduction in this case was predicted by using both the Tsai-Wu and maximum stress criteria. The differences are small, and the single experiment seems to agree better with the Tsai-Wu criterion. Stresses in the principal material directions ((T,, uX and r,J along the ply with the maximum waviness are shown in Fig. 11 to provide insight into the dominant failure mechanisms. They are normalized by the corresponding strengths of normal specimens. These stresses are calculated for an applied stress level 0, = 744 MPa that would cause failure initiation at

1.00

E, = 158.6 GPa (23 0 MS,) F,, = 1110 MPa (161 ksi) _ wavy specimen

0.75

2
5
D ;

0.50

&

0.25

01
0 0.05 0.1 0 15 2

Maximum AIL
0

0.2

0.4

Oh Stnun, E , (%)

0.8

1.0

12

Fig. 9. Stress/strain curves for composite with and without graded compression.

72-ply unidirectional waviness under axial

Fig. 10. Predicted stiffness and strength reduction of IM6G/3501-6 unidirectional composite under axial compression as a function of waviness parameter A/L for graded-waviness model (strength reduction is predicted by both Tsai-Wu and maximum stress criteria).

Stifsness and strength reduction of unidirectional composites

.s
it

589

1.00

B
f z .cL .g E s"

0.75

0.50

.F

-8 2

0.25

0.25

0.50 x/L

0.75

ml

Fig. 11. Normalized stresses in the principal material directions along the ply with the maximum waviness for IM6G/3.501-6 unidirectional composite with graded waviness under axial compression. (Maximum A/L = 0.02 and applied stress = 744 MPa.)

the location of maximum out-of-plane orientations 8 ,,,ax. It is shown that the interlaminar shear stress, r13, is far more significant than other stress components, indicating that interlaminar shear stress is the dominant failure mechanism when the wavy composite is loaded under axial compression. Figure 12 illustrates the uX stress distribution through the thickness in the region of 0,,, (x/L = O-25, 0.75) at the initial and ultimate failure stages. It is shown that once failure initiates, stresses in the laminate will redistribute and hence a steeper stress gradient will be created. Accordingly, the damage may propagate as a result of the stress redistribution. To demonstrate the damage propaga-

0 -0.50 -0.25 0 zm 0.25 0.50

Fig. 12. Axial stress distribution through the thickness in the region of em,, at the initial and ultimate failure stages for IM6G/3501-6 unidirectional composite with graded waviness under axial compression. (Maximum A/L = 0.02.)

tion predicted by the stress and failure analyses described in the previous section, its propagation in the laminate at different applied stress levels is illustrated in Fig. 13. Failure is initiated at the location of maximum out-of-plane orientation e,,, at a stress level of 744 MPa (108 ksi). As the load increases, the damage propagates in both the x and z directions. Finally, the laminate fails with extensive damage throughout at the stress level of 1070 MPa (155 ksi), after which no more load can be added to the laminate. During the experimental investigation, specimens were loaded in compression to failure at the minimum stroke rate of the testing machine of 0.025 mm/mm (0.001 in/min). This helps provide more stable growth of the damage prior to catastrophic failure. The failure development on the surface was monitored and recorded in real time by using a miniature video camera. A somewhat more gradual failure is expected where there is a gradient in the stress field (e.g. near fiber waviness). Therefore, the compressive failure of specimens with graded waviness is expected to be less catastrophic in nature, and in some cases, the failure sequence can be captured by the video camera in real time. For unidirectional specimens with graded waviness, interlaminar shear failure was found to be the dominant failure mode. These interlaminar shear stresses may cause local delamination in a composite having low matrix strength, and, therefore, reduce the local transverse support for the fibers. After delamination initiation and propagation, the layers, especially the ones with highest degree of waviness, are more susceptible to global buckling than the original laminate because of their smaller thickness. Global buckling of layers lead to final failure. Figure 14 shows the observed sequence of events that lead to final failure of unidirectional specimens with graded fiber waviness. The final failure pattern after the test is shown in Fig. 15. A large inclined crack through the thickness, indicative of global shear failure was observed near the location of initial delamination. By comparing this photograph and the images captured by the video camera, it was concluded that compressive failure of unidirectional laminates with graded waviness is triggered by interlaminar shear failure. The complete failure progression is illustrated schematically in Fig. 16. Predictions of stiffness and strength reduction as a function of waviness parameter A/L for different material systems are shown in Figs 17 and 18. It is shown that stiffness and strength reduction in the glass system are not as sensitive to fiber waviness as in the carbon system. This is true because the carbon composite exhibits a higher degree of anisotropy in the fiber direction than the glass composite.

590

H. M. Hsiao, I. M. Daniel

(4

U.3

0.25

4-----s

ss----I

-0.25

-0.50

09

0.50

0.25

=s

-0.25

-0.50 0 0.25 0.50

X/L

0.75

1.00

-0.50

I . 0

0.25 0.50
X/L

0.75

1.00

Fig.13. Illustration
composite

of predicted damage propagation at different applied stress levels for IM6G/3501-6 unidirectional with graded waviness under axial compression (maximum A/L =0.02): (a) 0, = 744MPa; (b) a, = 910MPa; (c) 5, = 1070 MPa.

Stiffness and strength reduction of unidirectional composites

591

Fig. 15. Failure

composite

pattern of IM6G/3501-6 unidirectional with graded waviness under axial compression.

function of waviness parameter A/L for different waviness volume ratios, VI, or waviness thickness ratios, t,/h. It is shown that a low waviness volume ratio, say VW= 0.2, already degrades the major Youngs modulus to a certain degree.

5 CONCLUSIONS A systematic investigation was conducted of the effects of fiber waviness on stiffness and strength of unidirectional composites under compressive loading. Analytical models were developed for predicting the elastic properties and compressive strength for different types of waviness. It is shown that in unidirectional composites both major Youngs modulus and compressive strength degrade seriously as the fiber waviness increases. Other properties, except for vyX and vzX, are affected less by the fiber waviness. Material anisotropy is also shown to influence the stiffness and strength reduction with the carbon/epoxy material being much more sensitive to fiber waviness than the S-glass/epoxy material. Experiments were conducted to verify the predictions. Unidirectional carbon/epoxy specimens were fabricated with uniform and graded waviness. Specimens were loaded in axial compression to failure in a newly developed fixture (NU compression fixture). Strain gage and video photography were used to monitor deformation and failure progression in real time. Experimental results were in good agreement with predictions based on the analytical models. Interlaminar shear stress, q3, is found to be far more significant than other stress components and is thus the dominant failure mechanism for wavy composites under axial compression. Failure is initiated by local interlaminar shear stress, followed by delaminations and layer buckling.

Fig. 14. Failure

mechanisms in IM6G/3501-6 unidirectional composite with graded waviness under axial compression: (a) before test; (b) failure initiation; (c) ultimate failure.

4.3 Unidirectional
waviness

composite

with localized

fiber

Figures 19 and 20 illustrate the predicted stiffness and strength reduction of IM6G/3501-6 material as a

592

H, M. Hsiao, I. M. Daniel

(a) Initial State

(b) Increasing Wave Amplitude

(c) Delamination Initiation

(d) Delamination Multiplication and Growth

(e) Delamination Multiplication and Growth

(f) Layer Buckling with Global Kink Band Formation

Fig. 16. Failure

progression

in IM6G/3501-6

unidirectional

composite

with graded

waviness

under

axial compression.
",=O

,=02

Yv = 0.4 ii, = 0.6 1,=0.8

1
V,,.=l

0
0

4
0.05 0.10 0.15

0.20

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

MaximumAlL

Maximum AIL

Fig. 17. Predicted major Youngs modulus reduction of unidirectional composite with graded waviness under axial compression as a function of waviness parameter A/L for two material systems.
1.w

Fig. 19. Predicted major Youngs modulus reduction of IM6G/3501-6 unidirectional composite under axial compression as a function of waviness parameter A/L for different waviness volume ratios.

0.2
0.75

0.75 0.4

LZ 5 t f B 2
0.73

0.50

0.50

0.6 0.8

B i:

0.25 1

1
0 0.05 O.LO 0.15 0.20

0 0 0.05 0.10 Maximum AiL 0.15 0.20

MaximumA/I.

Fig. 18. Predicted strength reduction of unidirectional composite with graded waviness under axial compression as a function of waviness parameter A/L for two material systems.

Fig. 20. Predicted strength reduction of IM6G/3501-6 unidirectional composite under axial compression as a function of waviness parameter A/L for different waviness thickness ratios.

Stifsess

and strength

reduction

of unidirectional

composites

593

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The work described in this paper was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The authors are grateful to Dr Y. D. S. Rajapakse of ONR for his encouragement and cooperation.

9. Bogetti, T. A., Gillespie,

Influence reduction

J. W., Jr & Lamontia, M. A., of ply waviness on the stiffness and strength on composite laminates. J. Thermoplast.

Comp. Mater., 5 (1992) 344-369.

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Comp. Mater., 21 (1987) 396-420. I. M. & Ishai, O., Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials, Oxford University Press, New

T. & Chou, T.-W., In-plane thermal expansion and thermal bending coefficients of fabric composites. J. Comp. Mater., 17 (1983) 92-104. behavior of 8. Ishikawa, T. & Chou, T.-W., Nonlinear woven fabric composites. J. Comp. Mater., 17 (1983) 399-413.

York, 1994. 19. Hsiao, H. M., Wooh, S. C. & Daniel, I. M., Fabrication methods for unidirectional and crossply composites with fiber waviness. J. Adv. Mater., 26 (1995) 19-26. 20. Hsiao, H. M., Daniel, I. M. & Wooh, S. C., A new compression test method for thick composites. J. Comp. Mater., 29 (1995) 1789-1806.