Numerical Modeling of Damage Caused by Seawater Exposure on Mechanical Strength in Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites are frequently used in marine environments which may limit their durability. The development of accurate engineering tools capable of simulating the effect of seawater on material strength can improve design and reduce structural costs. This paper presents a numer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polymers 2022-09, Vol.14 (19), p.3955
Main Authors: Vidinha, Hugo, Branco, Ricardo, Neto, Maria Augusta, Amaro, Ana M., Reis, Paulo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerospace engineering
Carbon fibers
Composite materials
Diffusion rate
Digital imaging
Environmental engineering
Epoxy resins
Failure analysis
Fiber composites
Fiber reinforced polymers
Finite element method
Laminated materials
Laminates
Marine environment
Mathematical models
Mechanical components
Mechanical properties
Moisture absorption
Numerical models
Polymer industry
Polymer matrix composites
Polymeric composites
Polymers
Sea-water
Seawater
Shear strength
Simulation
Stress-strain curves
Tensile strength
Three dimensional models
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Summary:Fiber-reinforced polymer composites are frequently used in marine environments which may limit their durability. The development of accurate engineering tools capable of simulating the effect of seawater on material strength can improve design and reduce structural costs. This paper presents a numerical-based approach to predict the stress–strain response of fiber-reinforced polymer composites exposed to different seawater immersion times, ranging from 0 to 900 days. A three-dimensional numerical model has been implemented using a static implicit finite element analysis along with a user-defined material (UMAT) subroutine. Puck’s failure criterion was used for ultimate failure analysis of the laminates, while Fick’s first diffusion law was used to predict the seawater absorption rate. Overall, the simulated stress–strain curves were close to those obtained experimentally. Moreover, the model agreed well with the experimental data regarding the maximum stress and the strain at failure leading to maximum errors lower than 9% and 11%, respectively. Additionally, the simulated strain fields agreed well with the experimental results measured by digital image correlation. Finally, the proposed procedure was also used to identify the most critical surfaces to protect the mechanical components from marine environments.
ISSN:2073-4360
2073-4360
DOI:10.3390/polym14193955