Imperial College London

ProfessorSilvestrePinho

Faculty of EngineeringDepartment of Aeronautics

Professor in the Mechanics of Composites
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 5076silvestre.pinho Website

 
 
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Location

 

314City and Guilds BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Publication Type
Year
to

269 results found

Bullegas G, Pinho ST, Pimenta S, 2016, On the role of shear transfer mechanisms in the longitudinal tensile failure of cfrp composites

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.A three-Dimensional (3D) Fibre Bundle Model (FBM) has been developed to simulate the longitudinal tensile failure and predict the statistical strength distribution of CFRP bundles of different sizes. An original semi-analytical approach has been developed to determine the stress field inside the bundle and predict the evolution of the failure process. The present model can account for the effects of fibre-matrix debonding, as well as the effect of the size of the cluster of broken fibres on the stress recovery length and, in turn, on the bundle strength. The model results compare favourably with different sets of experimental results, thus demonstrating the suitability of the modelling approach and the importance of including the previously mentioned effects in FBMs.

Conference paper

Pinho ST, Bullegas G, Pimenta S, 2016, On the role of shear transfer mechanisms in the longitudinal tensile failure of CFRP composites

A three-Dimensional (3D) Fibre Bundle Model (FBM) has been developed to simulate the longitudinal tensile failure and predict the statistical strength distribution of CFRP bundles of different sizes. The model incorporates an original semi-analytical approach to determine the stress FIeld inside the bundle and to predict the evolution of the failure process. The present model can account for the e-ects of bre-matrix debonding, as well as the effect of the size of the cluster of broken fibres on the stress recovery length and, in turn, on the bundle strength. The predictions from the model are shown to compare favourably with experimental results from the literature, thus demonstrating the suitability of the modelling approach.

Conference paper

Bullegas G, Pinho ST, Pimenta S, 2016, High-toughness CFRP laminates with engineered fracture surfaces: A shark-teeth design

Carefully-placed patterns of micro-cuts have been designed and then used to increase the translaminar work of fracture in thin-ply CFRP composite laminates. These patterns of micro-cuts are able to deviate a translaminar crack and force the formation of large bundle pull-outs. The technique led to a 68% increase in the laminate notched strength and a 460% increase in the laminate translaminar work of fracture when compared with the un-modi-ed baseline material. Part of the improved performance was found to be due to the generated interaction of failure mechanisms between contiguous plies with di-erent orientation; this process for generating interaction opens new possibilities for micro-structure design which will be explored in future works.

Conference paper

Matos MAS, Tagarielli VL, Pinho ST, 2016, Simulation of the electromechanical properties of carbon nanotube polymer nanocomposites for strain sensing

We present a Finite Element (FE) approach to model the conductivity and strain-sensing capabilities of Carbon Nanotube (CNT) reinforced polymer composites. A periodic Representative Volume Element (RVE) is constructed based on measurable statistical descriptors of the microstructure, and its response is simulated by concurrent electrical and mechanical FE analyses; the scatter of the predictions and their sensitivity to RVE size are explored. The model captures the nanoscale tunneling effect and its sensitivity to the imposed strain field. Predictions are found in good agreement with previously published data.

Conference paper

Narducci F, Pinho ST, 2016, Modeling, synthesising and testing nacre-inspired CFRP structures for improved damage tolerance

In this work, a bio-inspired carbon/epoxy composite with nacre-like tiled microstructure is designed and synthesised. Analytical models were developed to predict the strength and energy dissipation of such composite, and the predictions for the stress-strain response during tile pull-out were validated against FE. Suitable configurations for tile geometry with interlocks were then identified and used for the subsequent manufacturing, based on their anticipated energy dissipation capability. The dimensions of the tiles considered were of the order of 0.7 mm. In-situ three-point bending tests were then carried out in an SEM environment, showing the capability of the interlocking microstructure in deflecting the crack.

Conference paper

Swolfs Y, Pinho S, 2016, Designing and 3D printing continuous fibre-reinforced composites with a high fracture toughness

The translaminar fracture toughness determines in many cases the damage tolerance of composite components, and this property is strongly influenced by the microstructure. A finite element model was developed that can aid in the optimisation of the microstructure for maximising the translaminar fracture toughness of composites hybridised at the tow level. The model proved that the toughness is increased when the crack has to grow through an interface between carbon and glass in a hybrid composite. This implies that the microstructure can be optimized to maximize the translaminar fracture toughness. Hybridisation at the tow level is now possible by using micro-tow placement machines. Therefore, samples were 3D-printed with continuous fibres. Therefore, samples were 3D printed with continuous fibres. Compact tension tests indicated that the toughness can indeed be increased by fibre-hybridization. This provides new avenues for improving the damage tolerance of composite materials.

Conference paper

St-Pierre L, Pinho S, 2016, Stress redistribution around broken fibres and strength of fibre bundles

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.Predicting the longitudinal tensile strength of composites requires accurate modelling of the stress redistribution that occurs around broken fibres. Recent work on this topic has focussed on the stress field surrounding a single broken fibre; however, this is an important limitation as unstable failure in carbon fibre bundles occurs when a cluster of about 16 or more broken fibres is formed. Therefore, we have developed a Finite Element (FE) model to investigate how stress redistribution varies with the number of broken fibres in a cluster. The results show that the stress concentration factor is sensitive to the size of the broken cluster; it increased from 1.06 for a single broken fibre to 1.17 for a cluster of 16 broken fibres. To ensure that these findings can be implemented effectively in fibre bundle models, we have also developed an analytical model that captures how the stress concentration factor varies with the number of broken fibres in a cluster, and validated its predictions against our FE simulations. Finally, we extended our FE model to predict the survival probability of fibre bundles using Monte Carlo simulations, and found that these predictions were in good agreement with experiments on microcomposites.

Conference paper

Molker H, Gutkin R, Pinho S, Asp LEet al., 2016, Identifying failure initiation in automotive structures made of NCF reinforced composites for hot spot analysis

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.In this paper, intrabundle failure initiation in NCF reinforced composite materials is predicted based on a finite element model built with shell elements. The full 3D stress state is estimated based on the shell results and used in a state of the art 3D failure criterion. The procedure considers predictions of the transverse shear and normal stresses from stress equilibrium. By using this approach on shell elements, more efficient modelling strategies suited to identify hot spots in larger structures can be pursued.

Conference paper

Wilmes AAR, Pinho ST, 2016, Multi-physics molecular-dynamics-FEM for the virtual design of nano-structures and devices towards property specifications across scales

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.The rise of 2D materials has accelerated progress in nano-synthesis, and while single atom devices are manufactured, scalable techniques (e.g. CVD) have brought materials with tuneable nano-structures to the structural engineering scales; thereby creating design spaces for tailoring material properties across previously unattainable scales. Therefore, modelling communities must follow the integration of the physics, chemistry and synthesis fields, and accelerate their efforts towards an integrated virtual engineering design environment, so that future material innovations remain economically feasible. This work presents a mathematically rigorous and novel-featured molecular dynamics finite element method (MDFEM), which implements any MD force field (e.g. reactive, charge-dipole) within an FEM solver. Novel boundary conditions (OBC) are presented for accurately capturing bending deformations in structures, discrete or continuum, which modularly achieve property homogenisation across scales and physical representations; thereby enabling MDFEM multi-scale and -physics integration. Numerical implementations of the MDFEM and OBC are achieved within minutes using a network-theory-inspired code generator with novel motif-detection meshing algorithms for a priori unknown element topologies. Thus, this work presents an integrated engineering design environment, which is applicable from the smallest scales, for resolving a nano-device's electro-mechanical behaviour, to the larger scales, for virtually testing nano-structures for properties of engineering interest such as graphenes fracture toughness.

Conference paper

Chen BY, Tay TE, Pinho ST, Tan VBCet al., 2016, Modelling discrete matrix cracks, splits and crack-induced delamination with the floating node method

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.This paper presents the modelling of matrix cracks, splits and the crack-induced delamination using the floating node method. Enriched ply and cohesive elements are developed to explicitly represent the matrix cracks in plies and the crack boundaries on the interfaces. A laminate element is formed, such that a fixed, planar mesh can be used for laminates of arbitrary layups. The application examples demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of predicting several challenging scenarios of composites failure, such as the large number matrix cracks, grip-to-grip longitudinal splits, widespread delamination, etc.

Conference paper

Narducci F, Pinho ST, 2016, Modelling, prototyping and testing nacre-inspired microstructures for improved damage tolerance

In this work, a novel, bio-inspired carbon/epoxy composite with nacre-like tiled microstructure is designed and synthesised. Analytical models were developed to predict the strength and toughness of such composite, and the predictions for the stress-strain response during tile pull-out were validated against FE. Suitable configurations for tile geometry were then identified and used for the subsequent manufacturing, based on their capability to diffuse damage. The dimensions of the tiles as required for damage diffusion were found to be of the order of 0.7 mm. To prototype the material, two main challenges were overcome. The first was to cut accurate tiles of such small dimensions. The second was to successfully align the phase of tiles in one ply with that of neighbouring plies. The results show that both cutting and alignment were achieved with great accuracy. In-situ SEM testing is ongoing and will be presented at the conference.

Conference paper

Swolfs Y, Pinho ST, 2016, Designing tougher microstructures by 3D printing of continuous fibre-reinforced composites

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.The translaminar fracture toughness of composites is a crucial parameter for the damage tolerance of composite parts and the microstructure is known to affect this parameter. A finite element model was therefore developed that is capable of predicting the translaminar fracture toughness of a complex microstructure. This model revealed that interfaces between carbon and glass fibre composites can increase the translaminar fracture toughness. Compact tension tests on 3D printed samples confirmed this conclusion experimentally. These results open up new avenues for designing composite parts with improved damage tolerance by fibre-hybridisation.

Conference paper

Wehrkamp-Richter T, Pinho ST, Hinterhölzl R, 2016, Failure behaviour of triaxial braided composites

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.In the presented work, we propose a framework for predicting the non-linear mechanical response of triaxial braided composites using meso-scale finite element unit cells. Based on a reduced unit cell concept which exploits symmetries to minimise computational expense, a compacted and interpenetration-free yarn geometry is created within a three stage simulation process. Out-of-plane periodic boundary conditions allow an implicit consideration of the compaction of multiple braid plies in different nesting configurations, which further enables us to render high global fibre volume fractions (55-60%) using experimentally determined intra-yarn fibre volume fractions. Numerical predictions are compared to experimental data in terms of stress-strain curves.

Conference paper

Grail G, Coq M, Guesdon C, Pimenta S, Pinho ST, Robinson Pet al., 2016, Combined FE/statistical approach for the strength of composite fibre bundles considering hierarchical failure

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.This paper presents an overview of a combined FE/statistical approach for predicting the full strength distribution of unidirectional Composite Fibre Bundles (CFBs). FE models of CFBs with differently sized pre-fractured clusters of fibres were built to predict the stress concentration field around the respective broken cluster, and this was then used in an independent statistical model to predict failure of the surrounding fibres. The latter considers a hierarchical crack propagation from a single fibre break, with strength following a Weibull distribution, to its closest neighbour, hence forming a bundle of two broken fibres; the process is then repeated hierarchically, until final failure of the bundle. A key attribute of the statistical model for fibre failure is that it uses accurate full stress fields for each size of the broken cluster of fibres. Results show that, if a hierarchical approach (with separation of hierarchies) is used in both the FE and statistical models, there is no need to include detailed stress fields to obtain a good correlation with experiments. However, if no separation of hierarchies is imposed in the FE models, it is necessary to consider the full stress fields to achieve more realistic predictions and to capture the correct trends in size effects.

Conference paper

Narducci F, Pinho ST, 2016, Modelling, prototyping and testing nacre-inspired microstructures for improved damage tolerance

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.In this work, a novel, bio-inspired carbon/epoxy composite with nacre-like tiled microstructure is designed and synthesised. Analytical models were developed to predict the strength and toughness of such composite, and the predictions for the stress-strain response during tile pull-out were validated against FE. Suitable configurations for tile geometry were then identified and used for the subsequent manufacturing, based on their capability to diffuse damage. The dimensions of the tiles as required for damage diffusion were found to be of the order of 0.7 mm. To prototype the material, two main challenges were overcome. The first was to cut accurate tiles of such small dimensions. The second was to successfully align the phase of tiles in one ply with that of neighbouring plies. The results show that both cutting and alignment were achieved with great accuracy. In-situ SEM testing is ongoing and will be presented at the conference.

Conference paper

Pinho ST, Bullegas G, Pimenta S, 2016, High-toughness CFRP laminates with engineered fracture surfaces: A shark-teeth design

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved.Carefully placed patterns of micro-cuts have been designed and then used to increase the translaminar work of fracture in thin-ply composite laminates. These patterns of micro-cuts are able to deviate a translaminar crack and force the formation of large bundle pull-outs. The technique allowed to achieve a 68% increase in the laminate notched strength and a 460% increase in the laminate translaminar work of fracture when compared with the un-modified baseline material. Part of the improved performance was found to be due to the interaction of fracture mechanisms between contiguous plies with different orientation; this mechanism opens new possibilities for micro-structure design which will be explored in future works.

Conference paper

Bullegas G, Pinho ST, Pimenta S, 2016, On the role of shear transfer mechanisms in the longitudinal tensile failure of cfrp composites

A three-Dimensional (3D) Fibre Bundle Model (FBM) has been developed to simulate the longitudinal tensile failure and predict the statistical strength distribution of CFRP bundles of different sizes. An original semi-analytical approach has been developed to determine the stress field inside the bundle and predict the evolution of the failure process. The present model can account for the effects of fibre-matrix debonding, as well as the effect of the size of the cluster of broken fibres on the stress recovery length and, in turn, on the bundle strength. The model results compare favourably with different sets of experimental results, thus demonstrating the suitability of the modelling approach and the importance of including the previously mentioned effects in FBMs.

Conference paper

Grail G, Coq M, Guesdon C, Pimenta S, Pinho ST, Robinson Pet al., 2016, Combined FE/statistical approach for the strength of composite fibre bundles considering hierarchical failure

This paper presents an overview of a combined FE/statistical approach for predicting the full strength distribution of unidirectional Composite Fibre Bundles (CFBs). FE models of CFBs with differently sized pre-fractured clusters of fibres were built to predict the stress concentration field around the respective broken cluster, and this was then used in an independent statistical model to predict failure of the surrounding fibres. The latter considers a hierarchical crack propagation from a single fibre break, with strength following a Weibull distribution, to its closest neighbour, hence forming a bundle of two broken fibres; the process is then repeated hierarchically, until final failure of the bundle. A key attribute of the statistical model for fibre failure is that it uses accurate full stress fields for each size of the broken cluster of fibres. Results show that, if a hierarchical approach (with separation of hierarchies) is used in both the FE and statistical models, there is no need to include detailed stress fields to obtain a good correlation with experiments. However, if no separation of hierarchies is imposed in the FE models, it is necessary to consider the full stress fields to achieve more realistic predictions and to capture the correct trends in size effects.

Conference paper

Pinho ST, Bullegas G, Pimenta S, 2016, High-toughness CFRP laminates with engineered fracture surfaces: A shark-teeth design

Carefully placed patterns of micro-cuts have been designed and then used to increase the translaminar work of fracture in thin-ply composite laminates. These patterns of micro-cuts are able to deviate a translaminar crack and force the formation of large bundle pull-outs. The technique allowed to achieve a 68% increase in the laminate notched strength and a 460% increase in the laminate translaminar work of fracture when compared with the un-modified baseline material. Part of the improved performance was found to be due to the interaction of fracture mechanisms between contiguous plies with different orientation; this mechanism opens new possibilities for micro-structure design which will be explored in future works.

Conference paper

Molker H, Gutkin R, Pinho S, Asp LEet al., 2016, Identifying failure initiation in automotive structures made of NCF reinforced composites for hot spot analysis

In this paper, intrabundle failure initiation in NCF reinforced composite materials is predicted based on a finite element model built with shell elements. The full 3D stress state is estimated based on the shell results and used in a state of the art 3D failure criterion. The procedure considers predictions of the transverse shear and normal stresses from stress equilibrium. By using this approach on shell elements, more efficient modelling strategies suited to identify hot spots in larger structures can be pursued.

Conference paper

Chen BY, Tay TE, Pinho ST, Tan VBCet al., 2016, Modelling discrete matrix cracks, splits and crack-induced delamination with the floating node method

This paper presents the modelling of matrix cracks, splits and the crack-induced delamination using the floating node method. Enriched ply and cohesive elements are developed to explicitly represent the matrix cracks in plies and the crack boundaries on the interfaces. A laminate element is formed, such that a fixed, planar mesh can be used for laminates of arbitrary layups. The application examples demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of predicting several challenging scenarios of composites failure, such as the large number matrix cracks, grip-to-grip longitudinal splits, widespread delamination, etc.

Conference paper

St-Pierre L, Pinho S, 2016, Stress redistribution around broken fibres and strength of fibre bundles

Predicting the longitudinal tensile strength of composites requires accurate modelling of the stress redistribution that occurs around broken fibres. Recent work on this topic has focussed on the stress field surrounding a single broken fibre; however, this is an important limitation as unstable failure in carbon fibre bundles occurs when a cluster of about 16 or more broken fibres is formed. Therefore, we have developed a Finite Element (FE) model to investigate how stress redistribution varies with the number of broken fibres in a cluster. The results show that the stress concentration factor is sensitive to the size of the broken cluster; it increased from 1.06 for a single broken fibre to 1.17 for a cluster of 16 broken fibres. To ensure that these findings can be implemented effectively in fibre bundle models, we have also developed an analytical model that captures how the stress concentration factor varies with the number of broken fibres in a cluster, and validated its predictions against our FE simulations. Finally, we extended our FE model to predict the survival probability of fibre bundles using Monte Carlo simulations, and found that these predictions were in good agreement with experiments on microcomposites.

Conference paper

Wehrkamp-Richter T, Pinho ST, Hinterhölzl R, 2016, Failure behaviour of triaxial braided composites

In the presented work, we propose a framework for predicting the non-linear mechanical response of triaxial braided composites using meso-scale finite element unit cells. Based on a reduced unit cell concept which exploits symmetries to minimise computational expense, a compacted and interpenetration-free yarn geometry is created within a three stage simulation process. Out-of-plane periodic boundary conditions allow an implicit consideration of the compaction of multiple braid plies in different nesting configurations, which further enables us to render high global fibre volume fractions (55-60%) using experimentally determined intra-yarn fibre volume fractions. Numerical predictions are compared to experimental data in terms of stress-strain curves.

Conference paper

Wilmes AAR, Pinho ST, 2016, Multi-physics molecular-dynamics-FEM for the virtual design of nano-structures and devices towards property specifications across scales

The rise of 2D materials has accelerated progress in nano-synthesis, and while single atom devices are manufactured, scalable techniques (e.g. CVD) have brought materials with tuneable nano-structures to the structural engineering scales; thereby creating design spaces for tailoring material properties across previously unattainable scales. Therefore, modelling communities must follow the integration of the physics, chemistry and synthesis fields, and accelerate their efforts towards an integrated virtual engineering design environment, so that future material innovations remain economically feasible. This work presents a mathematically rigorous and novel-featured molecular dynamics finite element method (MDFEM), which implements any MD force field (e.g. reactive, charge-dipole) within an FEM solver. Novel boundary conditions (OBC) are presented for accurately capturing bending deformations in structures, discrete or continuum, which modularly achieve property homogenisation across scales and physical representations; thereby enabling MDFEM multi-scale and -physics integration. Numerical implementations of the MDFEM and OBC are achieved within minutes using a network-theory-inspired code generator with novel motif-detection meshing algorithms for a priori unknown element topologies. Thus, this work presents an integrated engineering design environment, which is applicable from the smallest scales, for resolving a nano-device's electro-mechanical behaviour, to the larger scales, for virtually testing nano-structures for properties of engineering interest such as graphenes fracture toughness.

Conference paper

Swolfs Y, Pinho ST, 2016, Designing tougher microstructures by 3D printing of continuous fibre-reinforced composites

The translaminar fracture toughness of composites is a crucial parameter for the damage tolerance of composite parts and the microstructure is known to affect this parameter. A finite element model was therefore developed that is capable of predicting the translaminar fracture toughness of a complex microstructure. This model revealed that interfaces between carbon and glass fibre composites can increase the translaminar fracture toughness. Compact tension tests on 3D printed samples confirmed this conclusion experimentally. These results open up new avenues for designing composite parts with improved damage tolerance by fibre-hybridisation.

Conference paper

Gigliotti L, Pinho ST, 2016, Prediction of the post-crushing compressive response of progressively crushable sandwich foam cores, Composites Part A - Applied Science and Manufacturing, Vol: 80, Pages: 148-158, ISSN: 1359-835X

In this paper, a novel analytical model for predicting the post-crushing compressive response of progressively crushable sandwich foam cores is presented. The calibration of the model is performed using experimental measurements obtained exclusively from standard monotonic compressive tests. Therefore, the need for performing time-consuming compressive tests including multiple unloading–reloading cycles is avoided. Model predictions have been validated against experimental measurements available for three different foam materials. The model is shown to accurately predict the thickness of the crushed material layer during progressive crushing and the residual after-crushing strain (with a maximum error of 12.1%). The proposed model is capable of predicting the residual after-crushing strain with a significantly smaller error (error-reduction over 56%) than existing models, whose calibrations require the same experimental measurements as the present model. The results presented in this work demonstrate the relevance of the proposed model for a damage-tolerant design of foam-cored composite sandwich structures.

Journal article

Gigliotti L, Pinho ST, 2015, Virtual Testing of Large Composite Structures: A Multiple Length/Time-Scale Framework, JOURNAL OF MULTISCALE MODELING, Vol: 6, ISSN: 1756-9737

This paper illustrates a multiple length/time-scale framework for the virtual testing of large composite structures. Such framework hinges upon a Mesh Superposition Technique (MST) for the coupling between areas of the structure modelled at different length-scales and upon an efficient solid-to-shell numerical homogenization which exploits the internal symmetries of Unit Cells (UCs). Using this framework, it is possible to minimize the areas of the structure modelled at the lowest- (and computationally demanding) scales and the computational cost required to calculate the homogenised to be used in the higher-scales subdomains of multiscale FE models, as well as to simulate the mechanical response of different parts of the structure using different solvers, depending on where they are expected to provide the most computationally efficient solution. The relevance and key-aspects of the multiple length/time-scale framework are demonstrated through the analysis of a real-sized aeronautical composite component.

Journal article

Gigliotti L, Pinho ST, 2015, Exploiting symmetries in solid-to-shell homogenization, with application to periodic pin-reinforced sandwich structures, Composite Structures, Vol: 132, Pages: 995-1005, ISSN: 1879-1085

In this paper, a novel set of Periodic Boundary Conditions named Multiscale Periodic Boundary Conditions (MPBCs) that apply to reduced Unit Cells (rUCs) and enable the two-scale (solid-to-shell) numerical homogenization of periodic structures, including their bending and twisting response, is presented and implemented in an FE code. Reduced Unit Cells are domains smaller than the Unit Cells (UCs), obtained by exploiting the internal symmetries of the UCs. When applied to the solid-to-shell homogenization of a sandwich structure with unequal skins, the MPBCs enable the computation of all terms of the fully-populated ABD matrix with negligible error, of the order of machine precision. Furthermore, using the MPBCs it is possible to correctly simulate the mechanical response of periodic structures using rUCs (retrieving the same results as if conventional UCs were used), thus enabling a significant reduction of both modelling/meshing and analysis CPU times. The results of these analyses demonstrate the relevance of the proposed approach for an efficient multiscale modelling of periodic materials and structures.

Journal article

De Carvalho NV, Chen BY, Pinho ST, Ratcliffe JG, Baiz PM, Tay TEet al., 2015, Modeling delamination migration in cross-ply tape laminates, COMPOSITES PART A-APPLIED SCIENCE AND MANUFACTURING, Vol: 71, Pages: 192-203, ISSN: 1359-835X

Journal article

Gigliotti L, Pinho ST, 2015, Multiple length/time-scale simulation of localized damage in composite structures using a Mesh Superposition Technique, Composite Structures, Vol: 121, Pages: 395-405, ISSN: 0263-8223

A Mesh Superposition Technique (MST) for the progressive transition between differently-discretized subdomains is proposed and implemented in an FE code. The interfaces between these subdomains are replaced by transition regions where the corresponding meshes are superposed. The MST is applied to the multiple length/time-scale analysis of a low-velocity impact of a projectile on a composite plate. Unlike using a sudden discretization-transition approach, the use of the MST eliminates the undesirable stress disturbances at the interface between differently-discretized subdomains and, as a result, it correctly captures the impact-induced damage pattern at a lower computational cost. Finally, the MST is coupled with an implicit/explicit co-simulation technique for a multiple time/length-scale analysis. The results indicate that, if the length-scale transition is performed using the proposed MST instead of a sudden discretization-transition, the CPU time can be nearly halved.

Journal article

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