Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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- All Subjects: Polymeric composites
Description
Composite materials are now beginning to provide uses hitherto reserved for metals in structural systems such as airframes and engine containment systems, wraps for repair and rehabilitation, and ballistic/blast mitigation systems. These structural systems are often subjected to impact loads and there is a pressing need for accurate prediction of deformation, damage and failure. There are numerous material models that have been developed to analyze the dynamic impact response of polymer matrix composites. However, there are key features that are missing in those models that prevent them from providing accurate predictive capabilities. In this dissertation, a general purpose orthotropic elasto-plastic computational constitutive material model has been developed to predict the response of composites subjected to high velocity impacts. The constitutive model is divided into three components – deformation model, damage model and failure model, with failure to be added at a later date. The deformation model generalizes the Tsai-Wu failure criteria and extends it using a strain-hardening-based orthotropic yield function with a non-associative flow rule. A strain equivalent formulation is utilized in the damage model that permits plastic and damage calculations to be uncoupled and capture the nonlinear unloading and local softening of the stress-strain response. A diagonal damage tensor is defined to account for the directionally dependent variation of damage. However, in composites it has been found that loading in one direction can lead to damage in multiple coordinate directions. To account for this phenomena, the terms in the damage matrix are semi-coupled such that the damage in a particular coordinate direction is a function of the stresses and plastic strains in all of the coordinate directions. The overall framework is driven by experimental tabulated temperature and rate-dependent stress-strain data as well as data that characterizes the damage matrix and failure. The developed theory has been implemented in a commercial explicit finite element analysis code, LS-DYNA®, as MAT213. Several verification and validation tests using a commonly available carbon-fiber composite, Toyobo’s T800/F3900, have been carried and the results show that the theory and implementation are efficient, robust and accurate.
ContributorsHoffarth, Canio (Author) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Thesis advisor) / Goldberg, Robert (Committee member) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Stochastic multiscale modeling and statistical characterization of complex polymer matrix composites
Description
There are many applications for polymer matrix composite materials in a variety of different industries, but designing and modeling with these materials remains a challenge due to the intricate architecture and damage modes. Multiscale modeling techniques of composite structures subjected to complex loadings are needed in order to address the scale-dependent behavior and failure. The rate dependency and nonlinearity of polymer matrix composite materials further complicates the modeling. Additionally, variability in the material constituents plays an important role in the material behavior and damage. The systematic consideration of uncertainties is as important as having the appropriate structural model, especially during model validation where the total error between physical observation and model prediction must be characterized. It is necessary to quantify the effects of uncertainties at every length scale in order to fully understand their impact on the structural response. Material variability may include variations in fiber volume fraction, fiber dimensions, fiber waviness, pure resin pockets, and void distributions. Therefore, a stochastic modeling framework with scale dependent constitutive laws and an appropriate failure theory is required to simulate the behavior and failure of polymer matrix composite structures subjected to complex loadings. Additionally, the variations in environmental conditions for aerospace applications and the effect of these conditions on the polymer matrix composite material need to be considered. The research presented in this dissertation provides the framework for stochastic multiscale modeling of composites and the characterization data needed to determine the effect of different environmental conditions on the material properties. The developed models extend sectional micromechanics techniques by incorporating 3D progressive damage theories and multiscale failure criteria. The mechanical testing of composites under various environmental conditions demonstrates the degrading effect these conditions have on the elastic and failure properties of the material. The methodologies presented in this research represent substantial progress toward understanding the failure and effect of variability for complex polymer matrix composites.
ContributorsJohnston, Joel Philip (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Rajadas, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016