3D constitutive model of anisotropic damage for unidirectional ply based on physical failure mechanisms

A 3D anisotropic continuum damage model is developed for the computational analysis of the elastic–brittle behaviour of fibre-reinforced composite. The damage model is based on a set of phenomenological failure criteria for fibre-reinforced composite, which can distinguish the matrix and fibre failure under tensile and compressive loading.

The homogenized continuum theory is adopted for the anisotropic elastic damage constitutive model. The damage modes occurring in the longitudinal and transverse directions of a ply are represented by a damage vector. The elastic damage model is implemented in a computational finite element framework, which is capable of predicting initial failure, subsequent progressive damage up to final collapse.

Crack band model and viscous regularization are applied to depress the convergence difficulties associated with strain softening behaviours. To verify the accuracy of the damage model, numerical analyses of open-hole laminates with different lay-up configurations under tension and compression were performed.

The numerical predictions were compared with the experimental results, and satisfactory agreement was obtained.