Stochastic modelling of continuous glass-fibre reinforced plastics–considering material uncertainty in microscale simulations

Abstract

This paper presents a probabilistic micromechanics-based approach to simulate the influence of scatter sources in composite materials as an alternative to deterministic approaches. Focus is given to the effect of microscopic and macroscopic voids, material inhomogeneity induced by manufacturing processes and stochastic fibre patterns on the mechanical properties of continuous glass-fibre reinforced polymer components. Various periodic unit cells of neat resin and embedded fibre clusters are generated with random distributions of the abovementioned scatter sources, while the voids are represented by degrading locally the pristine properties in an element-wise manner. Subsequently, the models are mechanically loaded under transverse tension as an exemplary case and the resulting responses are correlated with the stochastic inputs. In particular, the relative influence of pore size, porosity and fibre/resin interface strength on the transverse tension modulus and strength of unidirectional composites are numerically investigated. The present approach is suggested as a computational efficient but reliable alternative to geometrical representations of imperfection in composite materials.