Probabilistic Remaining Useful Life Prediction of Composite Aircraft Components

A Probabilistic Fatigue Damage Assessment Network (PFDAN) toolkit for Abaqus will be developed for probabilistic life management of a laminated composite structure with both microcracking induced stiffness degradation and cyclic loading induced delamination crack growth without remeshing. It is based on a high fidelity Fatigue Damage Assessment Network (FDAN) which includes 1) a coupled continuum damage and discrete crack model for ply damage characterization; 2) a moment schema finite element coupled with XFEM for efficient crack growth simulation in a thin ply; 3) a mixed mode fatigue delamination module to account for the mode mixity and failure mode interaction; and 4) an adaptive fracture process zone model for mesh independent delamination growth. A reduced-order model of FDAN will be generated using a combined response surface and a Gaussian process surrogate model builder to perform the subsequent probabilistic analysis efficiently. For the module verification and validation, experimental studies at the sub-component level will be performed along with the use of a damage monitoring and characterization system. The developed toolkit will be used to perform damage prognosis and risk informed life management using SHM data. GEM has secured commitments for technical support and commercialization assistance from Clarkson University, Sikorsky Aircraft, and Boeing.