Contribution of industrial composite parts to fatigue behaviour simulation

The dimensioning of composite structures presents the problem of behaviour modelling. This problem comes not only from the specific nature of the involved materials, but also from the reproducibility of the process both on the series scale as well as on the specimen characterisation level, which enables determination of the modelling parameters. In the case of static dimensioning with or without damage, the reproducibility of the mechanical parameters is satisfactory overall, regardless of the implemented experimental procedure. In fatigue dimensioning, the two aspects; process influence and procedure of identification play a major role in the application of the lifetime predictive models. This research has, as a medium-term objective, to partially answer the problems raised previously. The damage model used is based on generalised standard material thermodynamics. This model, coupled with the finite element method, allows simulation of the fatigue behaviour of composite parts.