A mechanics-of-materials model for predicting Young's modulus of damaged woven fabric composites involving three damage modes

An analytical model for damaged woven fabric composites is developed using the theory of advanced mechanics of materials. The analysis is based on Castigliano's second theorem and utilizes a damaged mosaic model laminate. Three damage modes (i.e., transverse yarn cracking, interface debonding, and sliding with friction at the interface) are considered. Only one independent interfacial parameter, the friction coefficient between warp and fill yarns, is introduced in the analysis. A closed-form formula is provided for estimating effective Young's modulus of damaged woven laminates. A parametric study of some 192 sample cases of two different composite systems (i.e., glass fiber/epoxy and ceramic fiber/ceramic) is conducted to illustrate the application and significance of the newly derived analytical model. The numerical values of the effective Young's modulus for the special case involving only transverse yarn cracking (the first damage mode) estimated by the present mechanics-of-materials model agree fairly well with those predicted by an elasticity-based model [Int. J. Solids Struct. 38 (2001) 855]. For the general case involving all three damage modes simultaneously, the present model reveals the complex nature of Young's modulus reduction in a quantitative manner, which differs from existing models. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.