Multi-Axial Fatigue Damage Models of Fiber Reinforced Composites

Fiberglass reinforced composites are extensively used in various structural components. In order to insure their structural integrity, their monotonic and fatigue properties under multiaxial stress fields must be understood. Combined in-phase tension/torsion loading is applied to [±45°]₄ E-glass/epoxy composite tubes under monotonic and fatigue conditions to determine the effects of multiaxial loading on its failure. Various monotonic and fatigue damage criteria are proposed. These models considered failure mode (failure plane), the energy method and the effective stress-strain method. It is observed for the majority of experiments, the failure initiated at the outer lamina layer at 45° to the tube axis. A damage criterion for multiaxial monotonic loading is proposed considering both normal and shear stress contributions on the plane of failure. The experimental data show an excellent agreement with this proposed model for various loading conditions. Other failure models are currently under investigation utilizing the stresses and strains at the composite laminate as well as stress and strain at the outer lamina layer. Multiaxial fatigue failure models are proposed considering again the plane of failure. Since the plane of the failure is subjected to mean and cyclic stresses (shear and normal) and mean and cyclic strains (shear and normal), the fatigue damage models consider the contributions of these stresses and strains to the fatigue life of the composite tube. In addition to the fatigue damage model based on the plane of failure, a multi-axial fatigue failure model is proposed considering the mean and cyclic energy during fatigue experiments. The experimental data show a good correlation between the proposed damage parameters and fatigue life of specimens with some scatter of the data. Other fatigue failure models are currently under investigation considering the loading frequency and visco-elastic properties of the composite.