Thick Composite Crack Analysis

Advanced thick composites are increasingly used in components for defense applications as well as commercial structures. Component level structural testing and analysis of advanced composites is prohibitively expensive and time consuming. Instead, using robust and accurate computational tools complemented by experiments at key stages is a viable and cost-effective option. The proposed project will advance structural methods and material technologies that enable reliable assessment of capability and useful life of composite aircraft flight-critical components and structures. The physics-based peridynamics (PD) methodology overcomes the weaknesses of the existing methods, and it is capable of identifying all of the failure modes without simplifying assumptions. The PD methodology effectively predicts complex failure in composite structures under general dynamic and static loading conditions. Damage is inherently calculated in a PD analysis without special procedures, making progressive failure analysis more practical. This results in a more efficient and cost effective design that meets reliability goals. The proposed approach will also replace some of the coupon-level tests used in the material qualification with computational models (virtual tests) validated with empirical data (measurement.). Such techniques will advance our ability to predict material behavior and enable affordable qualification of composite materials for structural applications.