A general damage model for woven fabric composite laminates up to first failure

A ply scale continuum damage model for predicting the mechanical behaviour of an unbalanced woven fabric composite up to first failure is presented. The behaviour of the unbalanced woven plies and the evolution of the damage were investigated experimentally. The damage, consisting of small cracks running parallel to the fibres, led to a loss of stiffness in the warp, weft and shear directions in the ply coordinate system. The model presented here describes the evolution of the damage and the inelastic strain up to the failure of the ply. By replacing the woven ply by two stacked unidirectional plies corresponding to the warp and weft thicknesses, this general model can be applied to a broad range of plies, from quasi-unidirectional to balanced woven plies. Tests in which simulations and experimental results were compared confirmed the validity of the model. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.