A virtual experimental approach to evaluate transverse damage behavior of a unidirectional composite considering noncircular fiber cross-sections

Abstract This study investigated the transverse damage behavior of a unidirectional composite containing a complex microstructure having noncircular fiber cross-sections. For this purpose, a finite-element (FE) model based real microscopic images of the M55J/M18 composite was generated with the signed distance function (SDF) by the level-set method and the trimming mesh technique. In addition, the interphase zone was constructed along the interface between the fiber and the matrix. Subsequently, a virtual experiment simulating a three-point bending test was conducted with the generated FE model. Crack propagation analysis was carried out with the cohesive zone model (CZM) by applying transverse tension under plane strain condition. The crack length and propagation directions were compared to those of the three-point bending test. To make a nice correlation between the virtual experiment and actual experiment, the effects of the fiber shape, thermal residual stress, and various fracture toughnesses were investigated on the length and propagation direction of the cracks. It was found that, the fiber shape is vital to the inter-fiber distance and fiber volume fraction (Vf), which strengthen or weaken the stress concentration, thus making the propagation direction of the cracks warped and the length of cracks varied.