MS Paper

Evaluation of behavior under tensile loads of composite materials hybrid woven
- vinylester matrix by the Finite Element Method INDUSTRIAL

TECHNOLOGY
Rev. 2 del 9/ene/2012 J Ayllón-Pérez, J Coello-Sobrino, A Martínez-Martínez, N Medina-Ríos,
V Miguel-Eguía
EVALUACIÓN DEL COMPORTAMIENTO EN ESTADOS DE CARGA

DE TRACCIÓN PURA DE MATERIALES COMPUESTOS TEJIDOS
HÍBRIDOS-MATRIZ VINILESTER MEDIANTE EL MÉTODO DE LOS
ELEMENTOS FINITOS.
Jorge Ayllón-Pérez 1, Juana Coello-Sobrino 1,2, Alberto Martínez-Martínez 1, Nuria Medina-Ríos 1, Valentín Miguel-Eguía 1,2
1 Ciencia e Ingeniería de Materiales, Instituto de Desarrollo Regional, UCLM, Avda. España s/n 02006 Albacete, España.
valentin.miguel@uclm.es
2 Departamento de Mecánica Aplicada e Ingeniería de Proyectos; Escuela de Ingenieros Industriales de Albacete, UCLM, Avda.
España s/n 02071 Albacete, España
Received: 22/jan/16 -- Accepted: 07/sep/16 - DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6036/7946
EVALUATION OF BEHAVIOR UNDER TENSILE LOADS OF

COMPOSITE MATERIALS HYBRID WOVEN - VINYLESTER MATRIX
BY THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD.
ABSTRACT: RESUMEN:
Hybrid composites present a wide range of mechanical properties Los materiales compuestos híbridos presentan un amplio rango de
that cannot be obtained with a single fibers type. These propiedades mecánicas que no pueden ser obtenidas con un solo tipo de
characteristics are highly dependent on the orientation and fibras. A su vez, estas características dependen en gran medida de la
configuration of each reinforcement. Thus simulation studies that orientación y configuración de cada uno de los refuerzos, por lo que cada
predict the properties of these materials are increasingly sought in vez son más demandados los estudios de simulación que predicen las
order to make the best design possible. In the present work, finite propiedades de estos materiales, facilitando su diseño. En el presente
element modeling has been used to develop a methodology to trabajo se ha desarrollado una metodología para la determinación,
determine the mechanical properties of hybrid Kevlar-carbon mediante elementos finitos, de las características mecánicas de
laminates, which are frequently applied to manufacture small materiales compuestos laminados híbridos kevlar-carbono muy utilizados
vessels, starting from the characteristics of the matrix and fibers en la industria marina para la fabricación de pequeñas embarcaciones,
that compose them. The initially employed methodology partiendo de las características de la matriz y las fibras que los
established the hypothesis required to define the characteristics of componen. La metodología utilizada inicialmente establece las hipótesis
a hybrid fabric sheet from the properties and geometry of the fibers necesarias para la determinación de las características de una lámina de
and resin. The properties of the laminate, considered a stack of tejido híbrido a partir de las características y la geometría de las fibras y
sheets, are determined with the obtained data. This method was la resina. Con los datos obtenidos, se determinan las propiedades del
validated by comparing the simulation values with the experimental laminado considerado como un apilamiento de láminas. La comprobación
results obtained in the tensile tests. Errors related to mechanical de esta metodología se ha llevado a cabo comparando los resultados
strength were around 5-10%, and up to 30% for deformation. simulados con los obtenidos experimentalmente mediante ensayos de
tracción, obteniéndose errores de entorno al 5-10% en el caso de la
Keywords: Composite, FEM, Solidworks, Kevlar-carbono, resistencia mecánica y de hasta un 30% para la deformación.
Vinylester
Palabras clave: Composite, FEM, Solidworks, Kevlar-carbono,
Vinilester
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1.- INTRODUCTION
The use of composite material fabrics in engineering structures has been promoted due to several appealing aspects;
e.g., easy handling, excellent adaptation capacity, tolerance to damage, and obtaining the best properties beyond the
stiffness plane.
The computational improvements currently being developed allow parts to be analyzed by CAD and calculation
programs based on the finite elements method (FEM). This reduces the need to carry out a costly trial-and-error test
process, which has been traditionally employed to design parts with such materials. FEM-based calculations carried out
by software speed up the optimization of laminates to produce different elements. Liu et al. [1] used these tools to
optimize the production of reinforced carbon fiber vehicle fenders, obtained lighter designs with the same strength, and
compared the results obtained with the software and the corresponding experimental values. Singh et al. [2] used the
SolidWorks and Laminator simulation programs to simulate Kevlar fiber military hulls and to optimize their production.
However, these results have not been compared with any kind of experimental testing.
Introducing the mechanical characteristics of composite material sheet is one of the most complicated tasks to perform
when defining the simulation test in the corresponding software, mainly in those cases that imply non unidirectional
reinforcements. These properties can be obtained by experimental tests or theoretical studies. Such studies allow a new
good approach to be obtained of the mechanical characteristics of reinforced woven composite materials, as the
following works have reported: Huang [3], Scida et al. [4, 5] or Byström et al. [6]. Jweeg et al. [7] demonstrated the
good exactness of the analytical model with experimental results for different kinds of fiberglass reinforcements.
Given the complexity of calculating the final properties of some composite materials, it is worth evaluating the accuracy
of the results that this type of software provides by comparing them with real assays, which allows the possible error
margin to be known when working them. El Hachemi et al [8] developed a computational process to obtain the
mechanical properties of viscoelastic composite materials. Mitchell et al [9] ran two computational models based on
beam-shell simplifications to simulate laminates with reinforced and unidirectional woven materials, oriented at several
angles. These authors compared computational results with experimental tests, and obtained variations due to the
simplifications they considered.
Depending on the simulation level of composite materials, Lomov et al. [10] defined three analysis levels: micro, meso
and macro. The micro-level defines the arrangement of fibers in a representative volume by analyzing the fiber-matrix
contact interaction. The meso-level defines the internal structure of reinforcement, i.e., its textile structure, buckling
applied during formation. The meso-level is the most widely level, used by many authors to simulate the performance
of composite materials by studying small woven sections, the 2D or 3D unit cell [10], and the interaction between fibers
according to its geometry [11, 12], particularly the crimp angle of fibers. Pollock [13] concluded that ultimate tensile
strength increased when this angle lowered, or if the transverse shear strength of roving improved.
The 3D geometry of the composite material part and the distribution of average reinforcement properties are defined
with the macro-level [1, 14]. These average properties depend directly on the percentage of fiber, reinforcement
thickness and the angle of the position; i.e., they are related with local composite stiffness [15], and have also been
established as a result of placing layers while the part is being formed. Oshkovr et al. [16] performed compression tests
at the macro-level in composite square tubes, and found a striking similarity between the experimental and simulation
results.
The study object of the present work focused on the aforementioned macro-level. Simulation was carried out by
SolidWorks of reinforced hybrid woven composite materials to verify if the computational results obtained by
simulation fitted the real tested performance. The authors of the present work selected SolidWorks because it is widely
used in the CAD applications industry, and because all the CAD-FEA modules available in the software package are
absolutely compatible [17]. Other authors have reported the potential use of SolidWorks to simulate composites formed
by up to 50 sheet for both symmetrical and asymmetrical laminates [18,19]. It is necessary to previously calculate the
properties of sheet with an analysis done at the meso-level by applying the software, whereas studying analytical
models is not necessary. The intention was to establish a methodology to predict the mechanical performance of
composites by simulation. Computational models were run using only the mechanical specifications of the materials
that they are composed of (normally provided by the manufacturer) and any kind of experimental study was avoided
during the process. To design the present study, a laminated compound material, made of a hybrid woven Kevlar-
carbon material with a Vinylester matrix, was selected. Nowadays this material is widely used to manufacture hulls of
small vessels as it better resists corrosion than those produced traditionally with epoxy resin. It also offers optimum
stiffness and ductility characteristics that are impossible to obtain with a single fiber, which consist in good stiffness
provided by the carbon, and high ductility conferred by the Kevlar fiber. When manufacturing these laminates, it is
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difficult and very costly to experimentally know their final mechanical performance, so being able to predict this
performance by simulation is very useful.
2.- EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
2.1. MATERIALS
A reinforced bidirectional hybrid woven Kevlar-carbon material and a unidirectional woven carbon fiber material, with
a vinylester matrix, were used for the composition of different analyzed laminates.
A bisphenol A-based vinylester resin was utilized in the experimental section to obtain the mechanical characteristics.
This resin is commercially known as CRYSTIC VE676T (2 % cobalt octoate as a catalyst and methyl-ethyl-ketone
peroxide as a cure booster). Regarding reinforcements, the former is a hybrid Kevlar-carbon reinforcement, sarga 2x2
and 215 g/mm2, formed by an aramid fiber of 200 Tex and 3K carbon. The latter is a unidirectional reinforcement of 50
K carbon and 600 g/mm2.
The experimentally analyzed laminates were manufactured by hand lay-up molding in 300x300 mm2 panels. Their
thickness was 1.5 to 1.7 mm, for which the reinforcement sequences in Table 1 were used. The polymerization and
curing process was run at ambient temperature for 24 h, of which the first 3 h were done in a vacuum. Then post-curing
was applied for 2 h at 100ºC. [20]
2.2. EXPERIMENTAL TESTS

The percentages of fiber and resin were calculated by weighing the material and analyzing density according to
Standard UNE-EN ISO 1183-1 [21] by the immersion method. The obtained percentages are offered in Table I.
Three tensile assays were run with the two described laminate types in accordance with Standard UNE-EN ISO 527 [22,
23]. To this end, rectangular samples (250 x 25 mm2) were used with heels of 50 x 25 mm2 on both ends (see Figure
1b). The thickness of these samples was defined by the manufactured laminate, which was 1.5–1.7 mm in both cases.
See Table II for the experimental results of the two analyzed laminates. A brittle break occurred in both laminates (see
Figures 1e and 1f).
Laminates were tested in a universal Servosis ME 401/10 testing machine and with a clip-on Servosis CDR-50 2´5
strain gauge, whose initial length was 50 mm, which operated at a speed of 2 mm/min (see Figure 1d).
Laminate No. Layers Woven material Angle Vfiber Vresin

o
1 Sarga 2x2 Kevlar-Carbon 0
Laminate
2 Sarga 2x2 Kevlar-Carbon +45o
TKC 39.00% 61.00%
3 Sarga 2x2 Kevlar-Carbon +45o
[0 /+45o]s
o
4 Sarga 2x2 Kevlar-Carbon 0o
Laminate 1 Sarga 2x2 Kevlar-Carbon 0o
TKC/CU 2 Unidirectional carbon 0o 54.24% 45.76%
[0o,0oC,0o] 3 Sarga 2x2 Kevlar-Carbon 0o
Table I: Laminates under study
Laminate TKC Laminate TKC/CU

Mechanical characteristic
[0o/+45o]s [0o,0oC,0o]
Minimum 20287 MPa 56723 MPa
Elastic modulus Medium 20688 MPa 59273 MPa
Maximum 21223 MPa 61386 MPa
Minimum 273 MPa 727 MPa
Tensile strength
Medium 284 MPa 752 MPa
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Maximum 290 MPa 771 MPa

Break elongation Medium 1.48% 1.27 %
Table II: Experimental results of laminates
Fig.1. a) Created sample model, b) Assayed sample, c) Sample simulated with the mesh and the external conditions
applied, d)Assembly in the tensile strength test, e) Broken TKC laminate, f) Broken TKC/CU laminate.
The possibility of experimenting with other configurations defined conventionally as anti-symmetrical was considered.
However, the tests previously run on these laminates gave similar results to those that corresponded to the TKC
configuration (Tables I and II). This result is justified by considering that the difference between symmetrical and anti-
symmetrical configurations lies in the relative arrangement of the layers that form the composite and which, for the
loads system herein experimented, influenced the shear forces transmitted by the layers not oriented at 0 and 90º with
the adjacent ones. This effect barely influenced laminate performance and only symmetrical laminates were considered
for the computational calculations.
3. SIMULATION
3.1. CREATING THE MATERIAL AND DEFINING ITS MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

In order to fully characterize an orthotropic material, nine constants of the material are needed, which correspond to the
Young’s modulus value, the Poisson coefficient and the shear modulus of the material on all three axes in the reference
coordinates system. Many experiments had to be performed to obtain these values, and an approximate method was
proposed to obtain them because the subsequent simulation required them.
The properties of the materials that shaped the composite were obtained from the data provided by the manufacturer
(provided in Table III). The ultimate tensile and compression strength of the resin, and the elastic modulus of fibers,
were checked by experimentally testing tension and compression to define each material more accurately.
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The mechanical properties of the sheet that composed the composite were obtained by the micromechanical analysis
software called Autodesk Simulation Composite Design 2015. The micromechanical procedure that this software
employs is done by studying the elastic properties of the lamina by the FEM model, based on the hexagonal vector of
the fibers, which is distributed in the matrix. The lamina’s strength is evaluated by repeating the results by the failure
criterion through unit buckling for all the considered buckling forms [24].
The software only allows one fiber type to be selected to calculate the lamina. This was why our hypothesis considered
a hybrid fiber, which had intermediate characteristics between the carbon and the Kevlar fiber, obtained by applying the
rule of mixtures to reinforcement fibers, and considering that both have a similar percentage in the volume [25]. With
break elongations, the lesser of both fibers was considered since material failure took place at that time. This therefore
affects ultimate tensile strength, which is calculated by Hooke’s law. This hypothesis was experimentally verified to see
if it was a good approach since the results of previous analyses done with one single lamina made of hybrid woven
material confirmed this.
Carbon fiber Aramid fiber Assumed

Carbon fiber Vinylester
(hybrid (hybrid hybrid
(unidirec.) Resin
material) material) fiber
Elastic modulus E11 (GPa) 100 83 91.5 160 3.45
Elastic modulus E22 (GPa) 12 5.2 8.6 12 3.45
Shear modulus G12 (GPa) 7.2 2.1 4.65 12 1.17
Poisson coefficient ν12 0.2 0.36 0.28 0.2 0.38
Poisson coefficient ν23 0.2 0.36 0.28 0.2 0.38
Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) 1900 2600 1738.5 1700 80
Compression strength (MPa) 1150 400 775 1050 120
Shear strength 156
3
Density (g/cm ) 1.58 1.44 1.51 1.73 1.14
Break elongation 0.019 0.03 0.019 0.015 0.023
Table III: Mechanical characteristics of the compound material’s components
Based on this software and the data of the different components that appear in Table III, the properties of the hybrid
Kevlar/carbon lamina and of the unidirectional carbon lamina were obtained for the reinforcement configurations
previously offered in Table I. A vacuum percentage of 2.5% was also considered [12, 26]. The resulting values are
summarized in Table IV. These mechanical characteristics were used to define both materials in SolidWorks. The
whole process and the flow of information between programs is summarized in Figure 2.
Hybrid Kevlar- Unidirectional carbon

Parameter
carbon laminate laminate
Elastic modulus in X 22172 (MPa) 81827 (MPa)
Elastic modulus in Y 22172 (MPa) 6640 (MPa)
Elastic modulus in Z 6313 (MPa) 6640 (MPa)
Poisson coefficient in XY 0.082 0.29
Poisson coefficient in YZ 0.47 0.29
Poisson coefficient in XZ 0.47 0.45
Shear modulus in XY 1910 (MPa) 2822 (MPa)
Shear modulus in YZ 1718 (MPa) 2822 (MPa)
Shear modulus in XZ 1718 (MPa) 2289 (MPa)
Density 1286 (kg/m3) 1434 (kg/m3)
Tension limit in X 352 (MPa) 855 (MPa)
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Compression limit in X 176 (MPa) 528 (MPa)

Tension limit in Y 352 (MPa) 68 (MPa)
Compression limit in Y 176 (MPa) 102 (MPa)
Shear limit 31 (MPa) 75 (MPa)
Table IV: Properties of the two sheet employed
Fig.2. Flow diagram of the methodology followed for the TKC laminate.
These results are comparable with those obtained with the analytical models reported by several authors [3, 4, 6, 15].
Given the large number of variables, models for woven material reinforcements are more complex and can be
associated with a higher error rate if compared with unidirectional reinforcement models because the rule of mixtures in
the latter type allows most properties to be calculated [25].
Another main characteristic to bear in mind when defining laminates in SolidWorks is the thickness of each lamina that
forms it. A thickness of 0.4 mm was used for the hybrid woven material sheet, and one of 0.7 mm for the unidirectional
carbon fiber lamina. Values were obtained by directly measuring and applying the theoretical calculations of laminates.
3.2. DEFINING THE FINITE ELEMENTS SIMULATION MODEL

In finite elements modeling, the tensile sample was defined in the same way as those used experimentally. Therefore, a
250 x 25 mm2 shell model was used to which four parts (50 x 25 x 0.5 mm3) were attached by a strong joint as if they
were heels (Figure 1a). The different laminates were subsequently defined on this surface with the previously described
configurations.
As this was a tension test simulation, a fixed fastening on one of the heels was considered to avoid any movement on
this end, as was a sliding fastening on the other heel to only allow movement in the sample’s longitudinal direction.
This was to simulate the clamp of the tension apparatus that was in charge of applying force. A test force was to be
simulated by applying it to the lower end of the sliding heel, as shown in Figure 1c.
A tetrahedral element of uniform size was selected for the mesh since the simplicity and uniformity of the model did not
justify using more specific and complex meshes. With different tetrahedral meshes, which ranged from 1-5 mm, checks
were made to verify not only that element size did not influence the results obtained in the simulations, but that
calculation times were not significantly cut when working with larger geometries. Finally, a medium-sized mesh was
used with an element size of 2.5 mm and a tolerance of 0.125 mm, which meant a total of 13469 nodes, 13678 elements
and 47904 degrees of freedom.
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3.3. FAILURE CRITERIA
The security coefficient was used as the indicator to calculate the sample’s breakage point by considering the break
when this coefficient was below 1 for any of the sheet since the failure of any sheet would trigger a complete brittle
break on the laminate. So after checking the different failure modes, and comparing them with the experimental results,
it was deduced that the Tsai-Wu failure criterion was the most suitable for the sheet oriented at 0–90 degrees. This
criterion allowed us to distinguish between ultimate tensile strength and compression, which was appropriate for this
case as the tensile strength and compression strength were quite different. However, the Tsai Hill failure criterion
proved more suitable for the sheet oriented at 45º, in which lamina failure took place mainly due to the buckling and
separating of the roving. This explains why the tensile strength and compression strength values were so similar, which
ensures better applicability.
3.3.1. The Tsai-Wu failure, or quadratic, criterion in the stresses area
Following this criterion [27, 28], failure in the stresses area can be described by a function, which is the sum of the
linear and quadratic scalar products. This is explained as follows:
f σk Fij σi σj Fi σi 1, i, j 1…6 (1)
With plane stress (σ3 0, τ13 0, τ23 0 , this criterion is expressed as:
F1 σ1 F2 σ2 2F12 σ1 σ2 F11 σ21 F22 σ22 F66 τ212 1 (2)
Where the expression coefficients [29] are indicated in (3)
; F2 ; F11 ; F22 ; F12 ; F66

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
F1 (3)
XT
1 XC
1 XT
2 XC
2 XT C
1 X1 XT C
2 X2 2 XT C
1 X1 XT C
2 X2 XT C
12 X12
where XT1 and XC1 are the tension and compression limits, respectively, in the fiber direction, XT2 and XC2 are the tension
and compression limits, respectively, in the fiber’s transversal direction, and XT12 and XC12 are the laminate’s shear limits.
In this case, XT1 , XC1 and XT2 , XC2 are respectively equal for the hybrid reinforced woven material.
According to this criterion, by transforming the previous equations, SolidWorks [29] defines the security factor as:
C1 R
fd (4)
2C2
If we bear in mind the parameters defined in the following equations, we obtain:
C1 F1 σ1 F2 σ2 (5)
C2 F11 σ21 F22 σ22 F66 τ212 2F12 σ1 σ2 (6)
R |C21 4C2 | (7)
Thus a factor over 1 indicates that the laminate will not fail.
3.3.2. The Tsai-Hill maximum failure criterion
This criterion is based on a modification of the distortion energy criterion for ductile metals. If plane stress is being
considered (σ3 0, τ13 0, τ23 0 , which could be case of a lamina [27, 30], this criterion establishes that failure
would occur in a state of bidimensional stresses according to the following expression:
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σ21 σ1 σ2 σ22 τ212

1 (8)
X21 X21 X22 S212
where X1 and X2 are the laminate’s traction limit in direction 1 and direction 2, respectively (with compression limits
for compression stresses), and S12 is the laminate’s shear limit. X1 and X2 would be equal with the reinforced hybrid
woven material.
In this case, the SolidWorks software [29] defines the security factor according to Equation 9.
1
fd
σ21 σ1 σ2 σ22 τ212 (9)
X21 X21 X22 S212
Thus a factor over 1 indicates that the laminate will not fail.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Although this is a theoretically linear analysis, the fact that sheet oriented at different angles exist, and the iterative
calculation done by the FEM, could imply minor deviations for perfect linearity. For this reason, different forces were
repeated close to the theoretical break force. By fitting the obtained points (see Figures 3a and 3b), the exact force at
which the laminate’s worst security coefficient was 1 was determined. This therefore implied that the laminate would
break.
This was how the break force upon the ultimate tensile strength of laminate TKC/CU was 29475 N, and that of the
laminate TKC was 9970 N, were determined. This involved a break strain upon laminate traction of 786 MPa and
249.25 MPa, respectively.
After simulating both laminates with these force values, the results were similar to those experimentally obtained (see
Table VI).
Laminate Type of analysis Simulation Experimental Error
Tensile strength 249.25 MPa 284 MPa 12.2 %

TKC laminate
Elastic modulus 15832 MPa 20688 MPa 23.5 %
[0o/+45o]s
Break elongation 1.57 % 1.48 % 9%
Ultimate tensile
786 MPa 752 MPa 4.5%
TKC/CU laminate strength
[0o,0oC,0o] Elastic modulus 48711 MPa 59273 MPa 17.8 %
Break elongation 1.61 % 1.27 % 34%
Table V: Comparison of the simulation and experimental analysis results
No differences were found in the analysis results for both solver kinds available in SolidWorks (FFEPlus the interative-
type solver and Direct Sparse the direct solver type), nor did the computation times change that much.
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Fig. 3. a, b) Lines after fitting the security coefficient of both laminates. c, d) Comparison of the experimental tensile
strength and simulation curves per laminate.
Figures 3c and 3d show the comparison made between the force-buckling curves for the experimental tests and the
simulations of each laminate. The main difference between these curves is found in the elongation values for one force,
and therefore in the elastic modulus. This means that the elastic modulus in the simulation was about 20% lower than
that obtained by the experimental analysis with both laminates.
The methodology presented herein is subject to different contributions to uncertainty in determining properties, mainly
due to the mixtures of non homogeneous materials, which makes the overall properties difficult to predict. This fact is
relevant in composite materials with hybrid woven-type reinforcements. So the results obtained in the simulation
offered a higher degree of agreement for the TKC/CU configuration, which has unidirectional reinforced layers made of
carbon with perfectly defined properties. The only time this is not fulfilled is with break elongations because carbon
fiber is very susceptible to breaking by defects, so it tends to break at a lower degree of buckling. To this we can add
possible defects that appear when a laminate is being manufactured, plus the complex buckling phenomena of woven
reinforcements, which also explains the differences in the elastic modulus of both laminates. It was impossible to
represent such phenomena exactly in the simulation, so the degree of final buckling was somewhat higher.
It is worth stressing the importance of characterizing the mechanical properties of the baseline lamina which will
constitute the composite laminate. Properties like compression strength or shear modulus strongly influence the final
laminate strength, whose sheet are oriented at different angles owing to the compression and shear forces that some
lamina have on the next ones. It is the nature of fibers that determines these lamina characteristics to a great extent.
Therefore despite being complex, their complete mechanical characterization is important.
In any case, the degree of agreement of the results is good for the laminate types we experimented with, and they
coincide with the results reported by other authors [31, 32].
Notwithstanding, an analysis run by simulating a composite material can never completely replace an experimental
analysis because in complex systems, like the present case, phenomena may occur that are not easy to consider. This
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means that the failure criterion choice for the material will be the main difficulty when this type of software is used for
designing. So it would be interesting to know the genuine performance of these materials beforehand by experimental
analyses to ensure the correct failure criterion choice.
5.- CONCLUSIONS
A methodology has been developed to determine mechanical characteristics by means of finite elements simulation of
laminated composite materials with hybrid woven reinforcements made of Kevlar-carbon and unidirectional carbon in a
vinylester matrix for pure traction load states. The methodology presented herein was compared with the experimental
results using the “SolidWorks” software, and its applicability was ensured by the reasonable agreement obtained
between the theoretical and experimental results.
The combined use of the “Autodesk Composite Design” software and simulation in “SolidWorks” allows the
development of a reliable method to design laminates. This method greatly simplifies the traditional method of dealing
with composite materials as it reduces the properties obtained by experimental methods to a minimum. Moreover, the
developed methodology can be extrapolated to laminates with other similar configurations or those defined by a
combination of different materials, provided their properties are known and their performance is similar to those
considered in the present work.
Ultimate tensile strength was established as an experimental parameter to corroborate the methodology. The degree of
agreement between the experimental results and those obtained by simulation was higher in the configuration that
involved sheet made of unidirectional carbon as they were better mechanically defined than the hybrid woven sheet.
Nonetheless, the results are satisfactory.
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Evaluation of behavior under tensile loads of composite materials hybrid woven

- vinylester matrix by the Finite Element Method INDUSTRIAL

EVALUACIÓN DEL COMPORTAMIENTO EN ESTADOS DE CARGA

España s/n 02071 Albacete, España

Received: 22/jan/16 -- Accepted: 07/sep/16 - DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6036/7946

EVALUATION OF BEHAVIOR UNDER TENSILE LOADS OF

2.- EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

2.2. EXPERIMENTAL TESTS

Laminate No. Layers Woven material Angle Vfiber Vresin

Laminate TKC Laminate TKC/CU

Maximum 290 MPa 771 MPa

3.1. CREATING THE MATERIAL AND DEFINING ITS MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Carbon fiber Aramid fiber Assumed

Hybrid Kevlar- Unidirectional carbon

Compression limit in X 176 (MPa) 528 (MPa)

3.2. DEFINING THE FINITE ELEMENTS SIMULATION MODEL

3.3. FAILURE CRITERIA

3.3.1. The Tsai-Wu failure, or quadratic, criterion in the stresses area

f σk Fij σi σj Fi σi 1, i, j 1…6 (1)

F1 σ1 F2 σ2 2F12 σ1 σ2 F11 σ21 F22 σ22 F66 τ212 1 (2)

Where the expression coefficients [29] are indicated in (3)

; F2 ; F11 ; F22 ; F12 ; F66

If we bear in mind the parameters defined in the following equations, we obtain:

C2 F11 σ21 F22 σ22 F66 τ212 2F12 σ1 σ2 (6)

R |C21 4C2 | (7)

3.3.2. The Tsai-Hill maximum failure criterion

σ21 σ1 σ2 σ22 τ212

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Tensile strength 249.25 MPa 284 MPa 12.2 %

[29] 2014 SolidWorks Help. Composite Failure Criteria.

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