Research Projects

Under this project, a numerical algorithm will be formulated to develop a non-local continuum damage model for brittle fracture which is inherent property of fiber reinforced polymer composites. A non-local damage model will be developed that can handle different properties such as damage anisotropy, tensile and compressive damage behavior and damage deactivation. This newly developed non-local damage model will handle brittle fracture and will also incorporate advantageous features of the local model. Then a fully explicit integration scheme will be developed for the non-local damage model to implement it in any standard finite element modelling software. In the present work, non-local damage model will be implemented in Abaqus via user defined material model to evaluate the delamination fracture toughness behavior of glass fiber/epoxy composites in mode I, mode II and mixed-mode loading conditions. The versatility of non-local damage model will be demonstrated through experimental tests on glass fiber/epoxy composites to analyze the delamination behavior of polymer composites in different modes. Glass fiber/epoxy composites (unidirectional and multidirectional) would be fabricated using vacuum assisted resin infusion molding (VARIM) setup. Samples will be tested for Mode-I (Double Cantilever Beam specimen), Mode-II (End-Notched Flexure test) and Mixed mode (Mixed Mode Bending test) delamination using ASTM standards on UTM Walter+bai LFV-100kN.