A continuum damage model to predict the influence of ply waviness on stiffness and strength in ultra-thick unidirectional Fiber-reinforced Plastics

Author

Andreas Altmann⇑
Robin Taubert
Ulrich Mandel
Roland Hinterhoelzl
Klaus Drechsler

1. Institute for Carbon Composites, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstraße 15, Garching b. München, Germany

1. Andreas Altmann, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstr. 15, Garching, Munich 85748, Germany. Email: altmann@lcc.mw.tum.de

Abstract

Ply waviness is a commonly observed manufacturing defect of ultra-thick composite materials essentially affecting stiffness, strength, and fatigue behavior of the composite. A specimen's geometry is designed to represent the failure mechanisms in thick wavy laminates, typically observed in spar caps of today's wind turbine blades. A material model is developed to simulate the phenomenological processes in wavy laminates to obtain a strength knock-down. Particular attention is taken on the nonlinear shear behavior and kink band formation. The presented model correlates well with results achieved by experiments. This paper shows a significantly higher influence of compressive compared with tensile loading on the mechanical material behavior of wavy laminates.

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http://jcm.sagepub.com/content/50/20/2739.abstract