Node-Failure Technique-Based Representative Unit-Cell Lifetime-Dependent Ductile Damage Model Between Elastoviscoplastic Matrix and Rigid Fiber

Numerical fracture mechanics analysis of the composite material presents many difficulties both for complexity of structure and various behaviors of its components. In recent years, there is an increasing trend of study about the initial crack location in internal microstructure of these materials. Numerical iterative computation procedure with the full mesh of composite structure, taking into account the elastoviscoplastic behavior and the failure criterion based on a locally accumulated damage to identify the path of the crack propagation, requires an important execution time, consequently an expensive cost. The aim of this article is the presentation of an original technique expressed as node-failure-based method developed in order to determine the initiation and progressive failure path using a nonlinear damage evolution law. In order to avoid the disadvantage of the full mesh, a representative unit-cell is adopted with adequate periodic boundary conditions to predict debonding initiation at fiber/matrix interface. The analysis shows finite element method–based representative unit-cell can reduce the computing power consumption and node-failure-based method act as a viable tool for prediction fracture pattern, while the well-known element-failure-based method, which requires more refined mesh of constant strain triangle elements is less accurate.