Imperial College London
Alternate

Dr Soraia Pimenta

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Reader in Mechanics of Materials and Structures
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 3784soraia.pimenta Website

 
 
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Location

 

521City and Guilds BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Henry:2018:10.1016/j.jmps.2018.06.003,
author = {Henry, J and Pimenta, S},
doi = {10.1016/j.jmps.2018.06.003},
journal = {Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids},
pages = {322--340},
title = {Increasing damage tolerance in composites using hierarchical brick-and-mortar microstructures},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2018.06.003},
volume = {118},
year = {2018}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Composites are attractive materials because of their high specific stiffness and specific strength, but their application in industry is restricted by their inherent lack of damage tolerance and stable energy dissipation mechanisms, due to the brittleness of the fibres. Nature overcomes a similar issue by arranging natural composites, made of mostly brittle constituents, in discontinuous and hierarchical microstructures. This work aims at evaluating the potential of hierarchical discontinuous carbon-fibre reinforced polymers to achieve damage tolerance, by a combination of modelling and experiments. Two different models (one analytical and the other numerical) are developed to predict the tensile response of hierarchical brick-and-mortar microstructures with two levels of hierarchies, and to design specimens with a non-linear response. Such specimens are then manufactured using laser micro-milled carbon/epoxy thin-plies, and tested under tension. The results show that the presence of discontinuities and hierarchies promotes stable energy dissipation before failure, ensures damage diffusion throughout the specimen, and delays damage localisation in otherwise brittle composites.
AU  - Henry,J
AU  - Pimenta,S
DO  - 10.1016/j.jmps.2018.06.003
EP  - 340
PY  - 2018///
SN  - 0022-5096
SP  - 322
TI  - Increasing damage tolerance in composites using hierarchical brick-and-mortar microstructures
T2  - Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2018.06.003
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/61363
VL  - 118
ER  -
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