Abstract:
The physical morphology of wrinkles and their spatial distribution in fiber-reinforced resin composites show inhomogeneity. It’s no use to improve the performance consistency of composite structures if just tracking the evolution and effect of a specific wrinkle. This paper proposed a novel model which considered the normal distribution of wrinkle’s geometrical size and the spatial random distribution, and the implementation algorithm of the model implanted in a self-developed finite element procedure is achieved. The computation combining hetero-geneous wrinkles can be considered as a virtual test since it allows every computation to produce a different result, thus the upper and lower limits of structural response can be obtained by multiple computations. The influence of wrinkle heterogeneity on macro-mechanical response can be predicted in design stage, and a quantitative relationship between the statistical parameters of defects and mechanical properties can be established. The virtual test method is the key to the innovative design method of composites, which can effectively reduce the dependence of mass testing of composite material in engineering practice.