Micromechanical analysis of inelastic fibrous laminates

Analysis of the inelastic behavior of fibrous composite laminates with detailed representation of the lamina microgeometry is described. Loading is limited to uniform in-plane stresses and out-of-plane normal stress, and to uniform changes in temperature. The objective is to predict the overall strains and the local fields in the constituents. This has been achieved by analysis of the laminates on two interacting structural scales, a microscopic scale which models the individual plies, and a macroscopic scale which provides the plies loading path. Macromechanical analysis of the laminate was conducted with the transformation field method, while micromechanical analysis of each ply was performed with the finite element method. Implementation of this methodology for laminates with a viscoplastic matrix is described.