A computationally-efficient micromechanical model for the fatigue life of unidirectional composites under tension-tension loading

Abstract

Failure of fibre-reinforced composites is affected by fatigue, which increases the challenge in designing safe and reliable composite structures. This paper presents an analytical model to predict the fatigue life of unidirectional composites under longitudinal tension-tension. The matrix and fibre-matrix interface are represented through a cohesive constitutive law, and a Paris law is used to model fatigue due to interfacial cracks propagating from fibre-breaks. The strength of single-fibres is modelled by a Weibull distribution, which is scaled hierarchically though a stochastic failure analysis of composite fibre-bundles, computing stochastic S-N curves of lab-scaled specimens in less than one minute. Model predictions are successfully validated against experiments from the literature. This model can be used to reduce the need for fatigue testing, and also to evaluate the impact of constituent properties on the fatigue life of composites.