Failure & Strength

Failure Modes (1)

Failure Modes
• Fiber breaking -- tension in fiber direction
• Fiber buckling -- compression in fiber direction
• Matrix fracture -- tension in transverse direction
• Matrix compression failure/matrix crazing --
compression in transverse direction
• Other failure modes:
– Fiber debonding -- fiber-matrix bond fails
– Delamination -- separation between layers in laminate

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis

 Failure modes (2)
• 2 failure types related to the 4 modes:
matrix failure or fiber failure.
– Fiber failure typically causes composite failure
– matrix failure may not
• Realistic loading is biaxial or triaxial.

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis

 Laminate Failure Criteria
• Failure criteria for a single ply.
• Failure criteria aim to relate all failure modes with
a single curve; No reason this should hold.
• Single Mode Failure Criteria
– Maximum stress criterion
– Maximum strain criterion
• Interactive Failure Criteria
– Tsai Hill criterion
– Tsai Wu criterion
• Fiber-Matrix Failure criteria
– Hann, Erikson & Tsai failure criterion
– Hashin failure criterion
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 Strength Values
• F1t=fiber direction tensile strength
• F1c=fiber direction compressive strength
• F2t = transverse direction tensile strength
• F2c=transverse direction compressive
strength
• F6= in plane shear strength
• F4, F5= interlaminar shear strength
• f12=biaxial interaction coefficient

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 Layer Failure Criteria
• Failure for a single-layer material
• Strength ratio ultimate
R
applied

– R > 1 -- stress is below failure level

– R < 1 failure is predicted

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis

 Maximum Stress Criterion
• Fracture occurs if any one of the stresses in
principal material coordinates is greater than
respective strength
• 1> F1t if 1 > 0
• abs(1) > F1c
• 2> F2t if 2 > 0
• abs(2) > F2c if 2 < 0
• Shear stresses
– abs(4) > F4
– abs(5) > F5
– abs(6) > F6

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 Stress Criterion -- Strength Ratios
• Failure occurs for R < 1
• R1 = F1t/1 if 1 > 0
• R1 = -F1c/1 if 1 < 0
• R2=F2t/2 if 2 > 0
• R2 = -F2c/2 if 2 < 0
• R4 = F4/abs(4)
• R5 = F5/abs(5)
• R6 = F6/abs(6)

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis

 Maximum Strain Criteria
• Most popular failure criterion in industry
• R1 = e1t/e1 if e1 > 0
• R1 = -e1c/e1 if e1 < 0
• R2= e2t/e2 if e2 > 0
• R2 = -e2c/e2 if e2 < 0
• R4 = g4u/abs(e4)
• R5 = g5u/abs(e5)
• R6 = g6u/abs(e6)

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis

 Stress and Strain Criteria
• Even though we are using linear elasticity,
these criteria vary because of the Poisson
effect. stress in 1  direction is
1
1  [E1e1   21e 2 ]

  1  12 21
where failure occurs at
e1t  e1
e2   ( top curve )
 21  21
e 2  e 2 c   12e1 (bottom curve )
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Maximum Strain & Stress Criteria

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 Tsai-Hill Criterion (1)
• Includes interactions among stress
components
• Quadratic interaction is introduced
• Similar to Von-Mises stress criteria
• Limitations
– Mode of failure is not identified
– Inadequate for materials with different
tension/compression nonlinearity
(1f ) 2 (1f f2 ) (f2 ) 2 (f6 ) 2 (f4 ) 2 (5f ) 2
2
 2
 2
 2
 2
 2
1  0
(F1 ) (F1 ) (F2 ) (F6 ) (F4 ) (F5 )

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis

 Tsai-Hill Criterion (2)
– Good fit in 1st quadrant will result in poor fit
(non-conservative prediction) in 2nd quadrant
– For shear and transverse components only

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 Tsai-Wu Criterion
– parameters fi and fii are functions of failure
stresses Fi
– failure stresses in compression are taken +ve
– interaction term f12 accounts for
tension/compression nonlinearity
– Limitation
• does not distinguish matrix and fiber failure

f11f  f 2f2  f11 (1f ) 2  f 22 (f2 ) 2  2f12 (1f f2 )  f 66 (f6 ) 2  f 44 (f4 ) 2  f 55 (5f ) 2  1  0
1
f12 
2 F1t F1c F2 t F2c

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 Comparison of Criteria

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 Fiber-Matrix Failure Criteria
• Hahn, Erikson & Tsai failure Criteria
– Quadratic relationships assume smooth transition in failure
mode between tension and compression
fiber failure
(f1112 )R 2  (f11 )R  1  0
matrix failure
(f 22 22  f 6662  f 44 24  f 5552 )R 2  (f 2 2 )R  1  0

• Hashin Failure Criteria

fiber failure
(f1112  f 6662 )R 2  (f11 )R  1  0
matrix failure
(f 22 22  f 6662  f 44 24  f 5552 )R 2  (f 2 2 )R  1  0
ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis
 Laminate Strength
• Single Ply failure already described
• Laminate Failure Criteria
– use single ply theories to predict first ply failure
(FPF)
– usually associated w/ matrix cracking (F2t<F1t)
– each layer is then discounted (or degraded)
until fiber failure (FF) occurs
• Limitation
– degraded material constants difficult to define

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis

 First Ply Failure (FPF)
define laminate and BCs;
calculate A,B,D

calculate stresses on
top and bottom of each ply

check failure criteria

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 Fiber Failure (FF) -- 1
• First ply failure
– usually matrix cracks
– affect transverse and not longitudinal stiffness
• Degradation of layer
– fd: empirical degradation factor
• E1=E10
• E2= fd E20
• G12= fd G120
• 12= fd 120
• f12= fd f12
• 0 indicates original, undegraded property

• Failure criteria modified to eliminate transverse or shear failure

• New Stress analysis

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis

 Fiber Failure (2)
define laminate and BCs
calculate A,B,D

calculate stresses on
top and bottom of each ply

check failure criteria

failure no failure

degrade material props* end of problem

modify failure criteria*

ME257: Composite Materials

* see Barbero, Section 7.2 Iatridis
 Fiber Failure (3)

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 Carpet Plot Design for Failure

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 Stress Concentrations (1)

Stress
concentration
near a hole

failure occurs
when stress at a
distance d0
from edge of
discontinuity
equals the
unnotched
strength F0
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 Stress Concentrations (2)
• Stress Concentration Factor
– Kt=max/n [7.50]
• where max= maximum stress around notch or hole
• n = nominal stress
• fully sensitive to notches
– for unidirectional lamina loaded in tension transverse to
fibers
• n, fail = F2t / Kt [7.51]
– Effective stress concentration, Ke
• quasi-isotropic laminates can withstand greater nominal
stresses than predicted from eq, 7.51, we therefore introduce
the concept of notch sensitivity.
• q=(Ke-1)/ (Kt-1)
• where q = notch sensitivity [0,1]
• if q=1 -- fully sensitive to notches
ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis
 Stress Concentrations (2)

Stress concentration
near a notch

a=radius of hole

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis

 Stress Concentrations (3)
q=(Ke-1)/ (Kt-1)

failure occurs when

stress at a distance d0
from edge of
discontinuity equals
the unnotched
strength F0

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 Fracture Toughness (1)

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 Fracture Toughness (2)
• Sharp cracks analyzed using fracture
mechanics -- Griffith theory
• Calculate stress intensity factor KI with
critical stress intensity factor KIC
K I  Y a
average stress criterion
aa 0
k IC  F0
a 0  2a
po int stress criterion
2
 a 
k IC  F0 a 1   
ME257: Composite Materials  a  d0  Iatridis
 Take-home messages
• Composites have multiple failure patterns
– Compression
– Tension
– First ply failure
– Final failure
• Different failure criteria are appropriate depending
on your loading mode
– a conservative choice is often appropriate
– Uniaxial, multi-axial, and distinction of fiber/matrix
failure
• Cracks create stress concentrations, but
composites are generally good at resisting crack
propogation

ME257: Composite Materials Iatridis