Numerical simulation of the crushing process of composite materials

Abstract Components in composite materials are progressively replacing metals for crashworthy applications in the automotive, railway and aeronautical industries. The numerical simulation of the crushing process for composite structures is a recent research area. Due to the complex mechanical behaviour of advanced composites, the capability of the existing analytical and numerical models to predict the crushing behaviour of composite materials is still limited. A numerical model for the crushing simulation of fibre-reinforced composite materials is proposed in this work. The progression of the main cracks is modelled using a new formulation of finite decohesion elements, that allows to correctly account for the energy involved in the cracking process. The intralaminar damage is modelled taking into account the specificities of each material system, degrading the elastic properties in accordance with the different predicted physical damage phenomena. After the validation of the decohesion element, this is used as part of a model for simulation of composite tubes crushing. A good agreement between the numerical results and the experimental data is achieved. The need for further improvements on the physical basis of the intralaminar failure criteria used, as well as on the numerical solution methods for the non-linear problem, is identified.

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