Fatigue Crack Growth Prediction for generalized fiber metal laminates and hybrid materials

The excellent durability performance of Glare, a thin fiber metal laminate (FML) material system, is now being proven in service. This has motivated work towards the application of FMLs to thicker structures driven by damage tolerance. In order to fully characterize the crack growth life of such materials, models are necessary that can account for the unique aspects of material systems under consideration, including non-uniformity of composition and stress states, and the resulting complex damage state involved in fatigue crack growth. This thesis presents a generalized analytical model for the prediction of fatigue crack and delamination growth in FMLs of arbitrary lay-up, including differing metal alloys, different thickness layers, and different combinations of reinforcing composite layers. Cracks in each layer, and delaminations in each interface, are allowed to grow separately, with the interactions of the damage throughout the laminate taken into account. The model is structured in a modular and iterative fashion. Modules for determining the load redistribution around damage and the strain energy release rate of delamination have been derived and independently validated through comparison to finite element analyses. A series of tests with thick fiber metal laminates of varied construction was carried out to verify the overall crack growth predictions of the model. While some discrepancies between the results and predictions for the most complex laminates suggest that refinement of the delamination strain energy release rate formulation is needed, many of the test results were accurately predicted, demonstrating the suitability of this model for use in design and analysis of thick FML structures.

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