A progressive damage based lattice model for dynamic fracture of composite materials

Abstract

In this paper we present an extension of the linear elastic lattice model for anisotropic materials previously developed by the authors. This approach takes into consideration damage evolution in composite materials by effectively integrating a softening constitutive law into our earlier triangular lattice model. In this framework, the material constitutive law accounts for the fracture energy of the matrix in the fiber direction in a simple and direct way. To validate the proposed methodology, we conducted a dynamic fracture analysis of a unidirectional carbon fiber composite material. In particular, we studied rectangular notched beam specimens under impact loading conditions. Results are presented in terms of crack pattern, crack speed, and crack length evolution. Predictions obtained were in reasonable agreement with previous numerical and experimental observations.