Durability Modeling and Simulation of Composite Materials (MSC P 2128)

The use of multi-functional composite laminates, including lightweight composite panels, is increasing on U.S. Army tactical vehicles. These advanced polymer matrix composite materials offer the potential to reduce the weight of next generation Army tactical platforms, as well as provide increased ballistic protection along with structural performance. However, weight savings can only be realized if these advanced materials can be tailored to survive in a severe operating environment that includes quasi-static, dynamic and repeated loads. The overarching objective of this work is to develop and deliver a suite of composite material models that can be integrated with the commercially available finite element codes to model damage evolution and deliver information on the health or remaining useable service life of a composite structure. During Phase I of this SBIR program, Materials Sciences Corporation (MSC) has demonstrated the feasibility of implementing a strategy for modeling the inelastic behavior of composite materials and structures subjected to working loads and environments of interest to the military ground vehicle community. As outlined in this proposal, Phase II will focus on validating the methodology on structural components and packaging the simulation and modeling tools for delivery to the government.