A Numerical Investigation for the Effect of Environmental Conditions on the Bending Behaviour of Laminated Composites

Abstract

In this study, the bending behavior of fiber-reinforced laminated composites (FRCs) with a balanced and symmetric stacking sequence was investigated numerically under different environmental conditions. The numerical models of carbon/ bismaleimide, carbon/epoxy, and S-glass/epoxy laminated composites were designed and analyzed using ESAComp software. Deformation of the FRCs models was simulated with three-point bending conditions and the effects of material properties varying with environmental conditions on the flexural analysis were investigated according to the Tsai-Wu criterion and the Puck criterion. The Tsai-Wu criterion detects the failure of FRCs earlier and behaves more conservative than the Puck criterion for all environmental conditions. The flexural strength and failure mode of the laminates vary with the variation of environmental conditions. The order of the first damaged ply varied depending on the type of reinforcing fiber. Especially the presence of moisture and high temperature significantly influences the flexural strength of the laminated composites.