Concurrent multiscale virtual testing for 2D woven composite structures: A pathway towards composites design and structure optimization

Virtual testing is a powerful tool to characterize the mechanical behavior of materials owing to its excellent predictive ability. However, virtual testing for composite structures remains challenging due to their natural multiscale heterogeneities and expensive computational costs across scales. This paper proposes a FE-SCA concurrent multiscale framework to solve this challenge, where FE and SCA represent the finite element method and the self-consistent clustering analysis, respectively. The mechanical behavior of three woven structures, including open-hole plate, Isoipescu shear, and biaxial tensile specimens, are predicted using the proposed method. The results show that the established FE-SCA concurrent multiscale framework can virtually characterize the damage initiation and evolution for both macroscale woven structures and mesoscale woven representative volume elements. Moreover, it shows significantly higher efficiency compared with the traditional FE2 framework. Due to the high efficiency and predictive ability, the FE-SCA concurrent multiscale virtual testing has the potential to be a pathway toward composites design and structure optimization.

Automated summary

Virtual testing is a powerful tool for characterizing the mechanical behavior of materials, and this paper proposes a FE-SCA concurrent multiscale framework to overcome the challenges of virtual testing for composite structures. The results show that the proposed framework can accurately predict the mechanical behavior of woven structures and has higher efficiency compared to traditional methods. Due to its efficiency and predictive ability, the FE-SCA concurrent multiscale virtual testing has the potential to facilitate composite design and structure optimization.