Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Year: 2020
Volume: 15
Issue: 1
Page No. 165 - 170

Mechanical Properties and Damage Analysis of Laminates with Hybrid Fiber Volume Fraction

Authors : Amany G.B. Micheal

Abstract: This study is concerned with modelling the mechanical behavior and damage of glass fiber composite laminates that exhibit hybrid fiber volume fraction. The Transformation Field analysis (TFA) is implemented in formulation while the composite is modeled using Mori-Tanaka averaging model. The formulation is verified versus an experimental program conducted at the Center for Advanced Materials (CAM) in the British University in Egypt (BUE). The studied laminates are with different lay ups and subjected to uniaxial bending and tension. The investigated lay ups are (0°) glass fiber symmetric laminate with thickness 37.0 mm and consists of 48 plies and a (0/±45°) symmetric laminate comprised of 12 layers of (0/±45°) glass fiber textile resulting in 36 plies with total thickness 10.7 mm. The fiber volume fraction (FVF) is 62% for both lay ups. The hybridization in fiber volume fraction is implemented by assigning low FVF of 40% for some core plies with variable depths. The core depths studied for the (0°) laminate are t/4, t/2 and 3t/4 where t is half the thickness of the laminate while the core depths for the (0/±45°) layup are t/3 and 2t/3. A comparison according to different criteria between the results of the above-mentioned lay ups and the results of the same laminate when all plies have the same volume fraction of 62% is conducted. The comparison criteria include longitudinal and flexural stiffness, the tensile strength and bending moment at the onset of failure together with ultimate bending moment the laminate can sustain. For bending case, the results show that for both the (0°) and (0/±45°) laminates, minor reduction in the mechanical properties in both the undamaged and damaged state takes place. The reduction ranges from 0-12% for all recorded variables. For the axial tension, the loss in mechanical properties is more rigorous. For the off-axis layup, laminate may lose 23% of its stiffness for large core depths. The effect is more pronounced for the load capacity where the laminate may lose up to 30% of its strength according to the depth of the low FVF core.

How to cite this article:

Amany G.B. Micheal , 2020. Mechanical Properties and Damage Analysis of Laminates with Hybrid Fiber Volume Fraction. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 15: 165-170.

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