Micromechanics and Macromechanics of a Composite Cylinder

Application ID: 67001


Fiber composites are widely used in industrial applications. Compared with traditional metallic engineering materials, fiber composites often offer higher specific stiffness and strength, as well as greater corrosion resistance. In addition, properties such as strength, stiffness, and toughness can often be tailored to specific applications. A fiber composite consists of load-carrying fibers embedded in a polymer resin. The composite material typically consists of a laminate of individual layers, with unidirectional fibers in each layer. This model demonstrates how to perform a stress analysis of a laminated composite cylinder.

Modeling the individual fibers in every layer of the laminate is computationally impractical. Instead, the model uses a simplified micromechanical model of a single carbon fiber embedded in epoxy to estimate the homogenized elastic properties of a single layer. It then uses these properties in the macromechanical model of the laminated composite cylinder. The laminate is modeled using two approaches: Layerwise (LW) theory and Equivalent Single Layer (ESL) theory.

This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products: