Micromechanical analysis of high fibre volume fraction polymeric laminates using micrograph-based representative volume element models
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This work develops RVE-based finite element (FE) models to understand how the microstructure of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) composites affects the overall mechanical behaviour of the laminate. The models represent a [0/90] configuration with a random fibre packing sequence through the thickness of each ply, as well as a variation in the cross-sectional shape of the fibres, both obtained from laminate cross section micrograph images. The uncertainty of interface properties and its effects on the overall mechanical response is also investigated. The response of the fibre is assumed to be viscoelastic-plastic and transversely isotropic and the three-dimensional constitutive behaviour is implemented through a user-defined subroutine in the LS-DYNA explicit FE code. Constituent properties are calibrated using experimental results on UHMWPE single fibres and a generic thermoplastic polyurethane resin material. The numerical results generated by the RVE models are validated against experimental results found in the open literature. Special focus was given to the in-plane shear and out-of-plane compression response of UHMWPE laminates. Our results can be used as inputs in a homogenised continuum level model, to express the effect of uncertainties which propagate from the microstructure to the macro-scale response.
Date Issued
2022-10-20
Date Acceptance
2022-08-08
Citation
Composites Science and Technology, 2022, 229, pp.109680-109680
ISSN
0266-3538
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
109680
End Page
109680
Journal / Book Title
Composites Science and Technology
Volume
229
Copyright Statement
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
http://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0266353822004225?via%3Dihub
Subjects
Materials
09 Engineering
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
109680
Date Publish Online
2022-08-14