Unidirectional high fiber content composites: Automatic 3D FE model generation and damage simulation

A new method and a software code for the automatic generation of 3D micromechanical FE models of unidirectional long-fiber-reinforced composite (LFRC) with high fiber volume fraction with random fiber arrangement are presented. The fiber arrangement in the cross-section is generated through random movements of fibers from their initial regular hexagonal arrangement. Damageable layers are introduced into the fibers to take into account the random distribution of the fiber strengths. A series of computational experiments on the glass fibers reinforced polymer epoxy matrix composite is performed to study the influence of the strength distribution of fibers on the mechanical response and strength of the composites.