Mathematical modeling of multilayered composite material to obtain in plane elastic constants. (2023) - Bhadane, Gaurav S.
Abstract: Polymer composite materials, often referred as Fiber reinforced plastics, are considered as one of the worthiest alternatives to traditional materials when it comes to weight reduction without compromising strength and performance due to high strength to weight ratio provided by FRPs. There are mainly-two components of any composite material – a fiber which acts as reinforcement and a matrix which is a polymeric resin acts as a bonding element and provides continuity to the material which functions as a medium of stress transfer between fibers. Composite materials have directional properties i.e. better mechanical properties are obtained in the fiber direction. The effective set of properties observed in any polymer composite system is result of combination of individual properties of fiber and matrix phase. There are many factors which affect effective properties of composite materials like – nature of matrix and fiber, volume fraction of fiber in the composite, adhesion between fiber phase and matrix phase, void fraction in the composite, etc. Whenever these composites are to be used as a material for particular application it is vital to determine mechanical properties of the composite in advance, so that its response to the loading conditions can be determined using mathematical calculation or simulation using finite element analysis. For single lamina of composite material rule of mixture provides satisfactory results for effective engineering constants but things become complex when it comes to thick laminates consisting of layers of composite laminas with each lamina having random orientation. In such cases various theories can be used to obtain effective engineering constants. These theories take into consideration micromechanics of each lamina in the laminate by considering its orientation and composition separately and finally yield effective properties of composite. Various theories for obtaining effective engineering constants are studied in this paper with the subsequent comparative analysis of the results obtained. Mathematical modeling of the composite for that purpose is done on the basis of these theories. These models are further validated by obtaining effective engineering constants by finite element analysis using Ansys.