Physically-based Finite Element Strength Prediction in Notched Woven Laminates under Quasi-static Loading

The present paper is concerned with modelling damage and fracture in notched woven fabric composites. Previous experimental work has shown that, under tensile loading, damage at a notch in a variety of GFRP and CFRP composites based on woven fabric reinforcement comprises matrix damage and fibre tow fracture along the plane of maximum stress. It is these experimental observations that inform the failure modelling developed here, in which a cohesive zone approach is used within a two-dimensional extended finite element method (XFEM) framework. The traction-separation parameters used in the XFEM implementation are based on previously reported experimental measurements for the strength and toughness of the woven fabric materials under investigation. The approach is shown to provide predictions of notched strength that are in very good agreement with experimental results from the literature for a range of GFRP and CFRP woven fabric systems and also agree well with results obtained from closed-form analytical models, which require calibration.