Residual Strength-Based Life Prediction of
Composite Materials Under Combined Damage Mechanisms
H. G. Halverson and S. W. Case
In this paper, we seek a method by which the residual strengths of composites subjected
to combined degradation mechanisms may be calculated. Three different approaches are
considered. In the first approach, the inputs to the residual strength analysis are purely
phenomenological. In the second approach, we make use of a micromechanics-based simulation
to combine the effects of two specified damage mechanisms. Finally, we develop a hybrid
approach in which the results from the micromechanics simulations for individual
mechanisms are used as inputs to the residual strength model as if they had been obtained
from experimental data. The residual strength model is then used to predict the combined
behavior, and the results are compared with those obtained directly from the simulations.
For the two mechanisms considered (slow crack growth and asperity creep), the results for
the detailed micromechanical simulations were accurately represented by the residual
strength-based model.