Fatigue life prediction model of 2.5D woven composites at various temperatures

As one of the new structural layout in the family of woven composites, 2.5D Woven Composites（2.5D-WC） have recently attracted an increasing interest owing to its excellent properties, i.e. high specific strength and fatigue resistance, in the aerospace and automobile industry. Indepth understanding of the fatigue behavior of this material at un-ambient temperatures is critical for the engineering applications, especially in aero-engine field. Here, fatigue behavior of 2.5D-WC at different temperatures was numerically investigated based on the unit cell approach. Firstly, the unit cell model of 2.5D-WC was established using ANSYS software. Subsequently, the temperature-dependent fatigue life prediction model was built up. Finally, the fatigue lives alongside the damage evolution processes of 2.5D-WC at ambient temperature（20 ℃） and unambient temperature（180 ℃） were analyzed. The results show that numerical results are in good agreement with the relevant experimental results at 20 and 180 ℃. Fatigue behavior of 2.5D-WC is also sensitive to temperature, which is partially attributed to the mechanical properties of resin and the change of inclination angle of warp yarns. We hope that the proposed fatigue life prediction model and the findings could further promote the engineering application of 2.5D-WC, especially in aero-engine field.

A user-friendly yield criterion for metals exhibiting tension-compression asymmetry

The aim of this paper is to model the yielding asymmetry of pressure-insensitive metals,including but not limited to Ni3 Al alloys.The main focuses are put on the flexibility and manipulative convenience.The parameters of theory are kept to a minimum and can be determined by as few tests as possible.These requirements are fulfilled by constructing a yield function using the second and third-invariants of a linearly transformed stress tensor.The proposed yield criterion has a simple mathematical form and has only seven parameters when used in three-dimensional stresses.Compared with existing theories,the new yield criterion has much fewer parameters,which makes it very convenient for practical applications.The coefficients of the criterion are identified by an error minimization procedure.Applications to a Ni3 Al based intermetallic alloy as well as a Cu-Al-Be shape memory alloy and comparison to other criteria show that the proposed criterion has nearly the same predictive ability and flexibility with other criteria.The proposed yield criterion can estimate the coefficients by using less data,which is a big advantage compared with other similar theories,especially when there is a limited number of experimental data.

Multiaxial fatigue life prediction of composite materials

In order to analyze the stress and strain fields in the fibers and the matrix in composite materials,a fiber-scale unit cell model is established and the corresponding periodical boundary conditions are introduced.Assuming matrix cracking as the failure mode of composite materials,an energy-based fatigue damage parameter and a multiaxial fatigue life prediction method are established.This method only needs the material properties of the fibers and the matrix to be known.After the relationship between the fatigue damage parameter and the fatigue life under any arbitrary test condition is established,the multiaxial fatigue life under any other load condition can be predicted.The proposed method has been verified using two different kinds of load forms.One is unidirectional laminates subjected to cyclic off-axis loading,and the other is filament wound composites subjected to cyclic tension-torsion loading.The fatigue lives predicted using the proposed model are in good agreements with the experimental results for both kinds of load forms.

Multiaxial fatigue life prediction of composite laminates

A study of composite laminates under tension–torsion biaxial loading is presented.The focus is placed on fatigue lives of composite laminates under different tension–torsion biaxial fatigue loading paths.A macro-meso model used to predict multiaxial fatigue life of composite laminates is also presented in this paper.Firstly,a macro-scale 3 D RVE corresponding to composite laminates is established to determine strain components in the material principal direction of each layer for each biaxial stress ratio.Secondly,a meso-scale 3 D RVE corresponding to each layer with fibers distributed randomly is established,with progressive damage prediction method,biaxial strength of composite laminates can be predicted,and the final failure layer can be confirmed.Thirdly,select any one of fatigue loading path at which the final failure of composite laminates is fiber failure(matrix failure)to establish the reference curve for fiber(matrix).Finally,with reference curve,fatigue life of composite laminates under any biaxial loading path can be predicted.And numerical results show good agreements with experimental data.