Composite Beam Theory with Material Nonlinearities and Progressive Damage

Fang Jiang, Purdue University

Abstract

Beam has historically found its broad applications. Nowadays, many engineering constructions still rely on this type of structure which could be made of anisotropic and heterogeneous materials. These applications motivate the development of beam theory in which the impact of material nonlinearities and damage on the global constitutive behavior has been a focus in recent years. Reliable predictions of these nonlinear beam responses depend on not only the quality of the material description but also a comprehensively generalized multiscale methodology which fills the theoretical gaps between the scales in an efficient yet high-fidelity manner. The conventional beam modeling methodologies which are built upon ad hoc assumptions are in lack of such reliability in need. Therefore, the focus of this dissertation is to create a reliable yet efficient method and the corresponding tool for composite beam modeling. A nonlinear beam theory is developed based on the Mechanics of Structure Genome (MSG) using the variational asymptotic method (VAM). The three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear continuum problem is rigorously reduced to a one-dimensional (1D) beam model and a two-dimensional (2D) cross-sectional analysis featuring both geometric and material nonlinearities by exploiting the small geometric parameter which is an inherent geometric characteristic of the beam. The 2D nonlinear cross-sectional analysis utilizes the 3D material models to homogenize the beam cross-sectional constitutive responses considering the nonlinear elasticity and progressive damage. The results from such a homogenization are inputs as constitutive laws into the global nonlinear 1D beam analysis. The theoretical foundation is formulated without unnecessary kinematic assumptions. Curvilinear coordinates and vector calculus are utilized to build the 3D deformation gradient tensor, of which the components are formulated in terms of cross-sectional coordinates, generalized beam strains, unknown warping functions, and the 3D spatial gradients of these warping functions. Asymptotic analysis of the extended Hamiltonian's principle suggests dropping the terms of axial gradients of the warping functions. As a result, the solid mechanics problem resolved into a 3D continuum is dimensionally reduced to a problem of solving the warping functions on a 2D cross-sectional field by minimizing the information loss. The present theory is implemented using the finite element method (FEM) in Variational Asymptotic Beam Sectional Analysis (VABS), a general-purpose cross-sectional analysis tool. An iterative method is applied to solve the finite warping field for the classical-type model in the form of the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The deformation gradient tensor is directly used to enable the capability of dealing with finite deformation, various strain definitions, and several types of material constitutive laws regarding the nonlinear elasticity and progressive damage. Analytical and numerical examples are given for various problems including the trapeze effect, Poynting effect, Brazier effect, extension-bending coupling effect, and free edge damage. By comparison with the predictions from 3D finite element analyses (FEA), 2D FEA based on plane stress assumptions, and experimental data, the structural and material responses are proven to be rigorously captured by the present theory and the computational cost is significantly reduced. Due to the semi-analytical feature of the code developed, the unrealistic numerical issues widely seen in the conventional FEA with strain softening material behaviors are prevented by VABS. In light of these intrinsic features, the nonlinear elastic and inelastic 3D material models can be economically calibrated by data-matching the VABS predictions directly with the experimental measurements from slender coupons. Furthermore, the global behavior of slender composite structures in meters can also be effectively characterized by VABS without unnecessary loss of important information of its local laminae in micrometers.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Yu, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Mechanics|Aerospace engineering|Mechanical engineering

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