Mixed-Mode I/II fracture behavior of asymmetric composite joints

The partitioning of the total strain energy release rate, G(tot), into the Mode I, G(I), and Mode II, G(II), components is challenging, especially in asymmetric cracks. Although many researchers have studied the fracture behavior of composite materials under mixed-mode loading using symmetric and/or asymmetric mixed-mode bending (MMB) specimens, few studies exist in the literature regarding the experimental investigation and analysis of the fracture behavior of asymmetric MMB specimens comprised of orthotropic layered adherends. In this study, a new approach, designated as the "extended global method", was established the fracture mode partitioning. The "extended global method" was applied for the analysis of the experimental data. The mixed-mode fracture behavior of adhesively-bonded composite joints was experimentally investigated using asymmetric mixed-mode bending specimens. Finite element models were developed in order to validate the approach. The virtual crack closure technique was used for the calculation of the fracture components at the crack tip and an exponential traction-separation cohesive law was used to simulate the fiber bridging zone. The crack propagated along paths outside the symmetry plane and, therefore, mode partition could not be performed in commonly accepted ways followed for symmetric specimens. In addition, the experimental compliance method was used for calculating the fracture energy of the examined asymmetric mixed-mode bending specimens. Results obtained using the "extended global method" and the experimental compliance method were in good agreement with the results from FE models. The outcome of this study combined with the results obtained from pure Mode I and Mode II experiments can be used to establish failure criteria for the examined joints, that can be eventually be used for designing structural joints with the same adherends and adhesives. Copyright (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Connections by Adhesion, Interlocking and Friction for Steel-Concrete Composite Bridges under Static and Cyclic Loading

Dimitrios Papastergiou

Steel-concrete composite bridges with twin-I steel girders and prefabricated slabs constitute an economical and competitive solution for small and medium bridge spans. In recent years they have started to gain their share in the construction market. However, the current slab-to-girder connection with groups of headed shear stud connectors is not well adapted for prefabrication and fast erection, and does not respond successfully to the durability of the construction. New types of connections by adhesion, interlocking and friction constitute a conception that aims to answer these demands. The resistance of these connections is based on the development of longitudinal shear stresses in the interfaces which form the connection. The goals of this study are to complete the existing research in this field by proposing scientific tools in order to predict the connection's structural performance, i.e. prediction of the connection's ultimate resistance and deformation capacity, including the post-failure behaviour. In addition, the behaviour of the connection under cyclic loading is also investigated to assess the connection's resistance to fatigue and to propose a design method for composite bridges under fatigue loading. To fulfill theses goals a combinational methodology was applied which included: study of the state of the art: a) in composite bridges so as to define the requirements and b) in interface behaviour in order to emphasize the parameters which are responsible for the resistance and obtain information for the nature of cyclic loading damage mechanisms, experimental investigations: a) to reveal the laws describing the interfaces and the connection's behaviour for static and cyclic loading, and provide data for development of analytical expressions and model validation and b) demonstrate the capacity of a composite beam under cyclic loading and the extent of its remaining resistance at ultimate limit state, analytical studies: a) to produce the laws describing the interface behaviour under static and cyclic loading and b) to evaluate the impact of the cyclic loading to the slip in the interfaces and in the connection and thus propose a damage factor for cyclic loading, finite element analysis in order to enable an analytical description of the confinement effect, caused by the reinforced concrete slab, which contributes to the resistance, the development of a numerical model to predict the connection's structural performance and to propose a design method for composite bridges fabricated with the new connection. Application of the mentioned methodology resulted in several useful conclusions: The interface behaviour can be described by analytical laws. The post failure behaviour of the interfaces was explained by accounting for the kinematics of the failed surface and basic notions of fracture mechanics. The damage due to cyclic loading on the interfaces and on the connection is expressed by the accumulation of a residual slip. Provided that the shear stresses remain lower than an elastic limit and the accumulated slip does not exceed the failure slip for static loading, fatigue failure is avoided. The confinement effect was incorporated, analytically, together with the laws of the interface behaviour in a numerical model to predict the connection's structural performance and allow a parametrical study. A design method for the verification of composite beams under static and cyclic loading was developed.

EPFL2012

Mixed-Mode Static and Fatigue Failure Criteria for Adhesively-Bonded FRP Joints

Moslem Shahverdi

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are increasingly used in many load-bearing structures. Joints are the most critical structural elements as they often become the weak links in engineering structures. Bonding and bolting are two of the main joining techniques used for composite elements but, although bolted and bonded joints have their advantages and disadvantages, adhesively-bonded joints are often preferred. This is thanks to their better performance in terms of cost-effective structures with uniformly distributed stresses without the need for cutting fastener holes that result in high stress concentrations in the FRP adherends at the edges of the holes. In addition, due to the absence of stress concentrations, adhesively-bonded joints exhibit better fatigue behavior. However, the efficient and reliable use of adhesively-bonded joints requires a thorough understanding of their failure mechanisms under mixed-mode quasi-static and fatigue loading conditions. In real structural applications, failure of adhesively-bonded joints occurs due to crack initiation and propagation under varying mixed-mode ratios. Since it is difficult to describe this progressive fracture in a structural joint, fracture joints with constant mode-mixity ratios are used to determine the strain energy release rates for crack initiation and propagation. Subsequently, mixed-mode failure criteria based on the determined strain energy release rates can be established and used to model/predict the fatigue and fracture behaviors of structural joints. The main objectives of this thesis were to understand the fracture and fatigue behaviors of adhesively-bonded FRP fracture joints under Mode I, Mode II, and mixed-Mode I/II loading conditions and, consequently, develop mixed-mode static and fatigue failure criteria applicable to structural joints. To fulfill these objectives a combined experimental-analytical-numerical study was undertaken. Double cantilever beam (DCB-Mode I), end-load split (ELS-Mode II), and mixed-mode bending (MMB-Mode I/II) specimens were examined under quasi-static and constant amplitude fatigue loading. Analytical approaches were used to determine the strain energy release rates under quasi-static and fatigue loading, whereas phenomenological models were developed to characterize the fatigue and fracture behaviors of the joints. A new approach designated the “extended global method” was established and applied for the analysis of the quasi-static and fatigue experimental data and the fracture mode partitioning in the mixed-mode experiments. In parallel, non-linear finite element models were developed to simulate the quasi-static fracture behavior and investigate the effects of both the existing asymmetry and the observed fiber bridging on the fracture behavior of the examined joints. The bridging zone was modeled by zero-thickness cohesive elements. An exponential traction-separation description of the cohesive zone model was shown to appropriately model the fiber bridging and calculate its contribution to the fracture energy under quasi-static loading. The FE models were successfully employed for the separation of the fracture parameters, i.e. strain energy released at the crack tip (Gtip) and the amount of energy released along the crack-bridging zone (Gbr), in the quasi-static mixed-mode failure criterion for crack propagation. In addition to the studies on the quasi-static fracture behavior of the joints, a new phenomenological fatigue crack growth formulation for the modeling and prediction of Rratio effects on the Mode I fatigue behavior of adhesively-bonded joints was also derived. The model was used for prediction of the fatigue behavior of the examined joints under different R-ratios. The results proved that the model could accurately simulate the fatigue behavior of the examined joints and was also capable of predicting behavior exhibited under unseen loading conditions, i.e. the R-ratios used for estimating the model parameters were different from those used for validating its prediction capability. The experimental results and numerical analyses combined with the phenomenological models were used to establish mixed-mode static and fatigue failure criteria for crack initiation and crack propagation for the adhesively-bonded joints. The derived mixed-mode failure criteria can be used for simulating/predicting the crack initiation and progressive crack propagation in structural joints comprising the same adhesive and adherends.

EPFL2013

Two-dimensional crack growth in FRP laminates and sandwich panels

Aida Cameselle Molares

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials are currently being selected for the design of lightweight and efficient structural members in a wide number of engineering applications. Sandwich panels with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) face sheets and low-density cores are notably one of the most common applications of FRP materials in the civil engineering field. The load-bearing capacity of FRP structures can be significantly reduced by delamination and debonding damage which, in actual structural members, may extend all around its perimeter, thus constantly changing the size of the crack front. However, most research efforts concerning the fracture characterization of delamination and debonding damage have focused on one dimensional (1D) fracture specimens where cracks propagate longitudinally with an approximately constant crack width, thus resulting in fracture properties that may lead to inaccurate predictions of fracture behavior in real structures. With the aim of establishing a more realistic fracture approach to delamination and debonding damage in FRP structures and thus improving their fracture characterization, the two dimensional (2D) crack growth in GFRP laminates and GFRP/balsa sandwich panels is investigated in this research. The 2D quasi-static delamination behavior in GFRP plates with embedded defects subjected to out-of-plane tensile loads was experimentally investigated. Increasing loads were obtained due to the disproportionate increase of the crack area throughout the propagation of the 2D crack. Analysis of the load-bearing and compliance responses indicated that a stiffening of the opened part of the plates occurred as a result of in plane stretching stresses that developed due to the boundary conditions associated with an embedded 2D crack. To investigate the effect of the stress stiffening and associated fracture mechanisms, the 2D delamination behavior was numerically studied. Results confirmed a 50% increase, compared to 1D fracture, in the total strain energy release rate (SERR) required to propagate the crack. This was correlated to the increase of the fiber-bridging area as a result of the increase in the flexural stiffness (from beam to plate) and the stress-stiffening effect. A numerically-based method, suitable for determining the mean total SERR involved in the Mode I-dominated 2D delamination of FRP laminates was further developed and validated. This method permits a reduction of experimental and computational efforts. The 2D fracture investigation was extended to GFRP/balsa sandwich panels whose 2D debonding behavior was experimentally studied under quasi-static and fatigue out of-plane tensile loads. Circular embedded disbonds were introduced at the face sheet/core interface. Stretching strains again developed, thereby activating shear fracture modes which, depending on the face sheet layup, triggered different crack propagation behaviors. The fatigue load-displacement hysteresis loops exhibited an increase in the cyclic stiffness due to the stiffening caused by the stretching stresses. The introduction of plies prone to develop fiber-bridging at the face sheet/core interface resulted in enhanced quasi-static debonding resistance, while under fatigue their fracture efficiency was highly dependent on the fatigue amplitude. High R-ratios improved fatigue performance due to a reduction in fiber-bridging crushing.

EPFL2019