Micromechanical Analysis of Composite Laminates at Cryogenic Temperatures

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Choi, Sukjoo Sankar, Bhavani V.
Copyright Year	2006
Abstract	A finite element analysis-based micromechanics method is developed to investigate development of microcracks in a graphite/epoxy composite liquid hydrogen tank at cryogenic temperatures. The unit cell of the composite is modeled using finite elements. Periodic boundary conditions are applied to the boundaries of the unit cell. The temperature-dependent properties including the coefficient of thermal expansion of the matrix material are taken into account in the analysis. The thermoelastic constants of the composite are calculated as a function of temperature. The stresses in the fiber and matrix phases and along the fiber-matrix interface are calculated. When the laminated composite structure is subjected to combined thermal and mechanical loads, the macrostrains are computed from the global analysis. Then, the macrostrains and temperatures are applied to the unit cell model to evaluate microstresses, which are used to predict the formation of microcracks in the matrix. The method is applied to a composite liquid hydrogen storage system. It is found that the stresses in the matrix phase could be large enough to cause microcracks in the composite.
Starting Page	1077
Ending Page	1091
Page Count	15
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
DOI	10.1177/0021998305057365
Volume Number	40
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://web.mae.ufl.edu/sankar/Publications/Articles/In_Press/Choi_JCM.pdf
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://doi.org/10.1177/0021998305057365
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article