Development of a Progressive Failure Model for Notched Woven Composite Laminates

As part of the Composite Technology for Exploration (CTE) project at NASA, woven fabric composites are being investigated for their use in Space Launch System (SLS) hardware. Composites are more difficult to analyze than isotropic materials and require more complex methods for predicting failure. NASA is seeking a method for predicting the damage initiation and propagation of woven fabric composites in order to utilize these materials effectively in SLS hardware. This work focuses on notched woven fabric composites under tensile loading. An analytical model consisting of a macro-level failure criterion and damage propagation was developed and implemented in explicit finite element analysis to simulate woven composite materials. Several failure criteria and propagation models were investigated and compared. A response surface was used to better understand the effects of damage parameters on the failure load of a specimen. The model chosen to have best represented the physical specimen used the Tsai-Wu failure criterion. Additional physical tests are needed to further validate the model.