Progressive damage and failure modeling in composite cylindrical pyramidal lattice structure

Abstract

In this paper, the mechanical behavior of a carbon fiber composite cylindrical pyramidal lattice structure has been predicted based on initial failure criteria and progressive damage under compressive loading. For this purpose, the three-dimensional Hashin failure criteria with instantaneous and gradual unloading models have been employed by the user subroutine UMAT in ABAQUS/Standard. In the instantaneous and gradual unloading models, progressive damage has been controlled by binary and exponential damage functions, respectively. Besides, to validate finite element models, the results have been compared with the experimental tests. Therefore, a new mold has been designed and manufactured for the experimental test of composite cylindrical pyramidal lattice structures. The new mold allows the use of the maximum inherent strength of the fiber-reinforced composite. The predicted force–displacement curves are in good agreement with the experimental test results. Hence, it is possible to use these FE models in the design of ultra-lightweight structures.