A material model to predict kink-band formation and growth under a 3D stress state is proposed. 3D kinking theory is used in combination with a physically based constitutive law of the material in the kink-band, accounting for friction on the microcracks of the damaged material. In contrast to existing models, the same constitutive formulation is used for fibre kinking and for the longitudinal shear and transverse responses, thereby simplifying the material identification process. The full collapse response as well as a crush stress can be predicted. The model is compared with an analytical model, a micromechanical finite element analysis and crushing tests. In all cases the present model predicts well the different stages of kink-band formation and crushing.

A complete database of the mechanical properties of an epoxy polymer reinforced with uni-weave carbon fibre non-crimp fabric (NCF) is established. In-plane and through-the-thickness tests were performed on unidirectional laminates under normal loading and shear loading. The response under cyclic shear loading was also measured. The material has been characterised in terms of stiffness, strength, and failure features for the different loading cases. The critical energy release rates associated with different failure modes in the material were measured from interlaminar and translaminar fracture toughness tests. The stress–strain data of the tensile, compressive, and shear test specimens are included. The load–deflection data for all fracture toughness tests are also included. The database can be used in the development and validation of analytical and numerical models of fibre reinforced plastics (FRPs), in particular FRPs with NCF reinforcements.

Compression tests have been performed according to ASTM D6641 to check whether 12 mm is a sufficient width for off-axis tests of a unidirectional Non Crimp Fabric (NCF) reinforced carbon-fibre composite. Various off-axis angles are tested in a larger context and it is important to establish a representative material volume. The test matrix consists of two different widths for two off-axis cases, 15° and 20° with a total sample size of 24. A two-sample T-test is performed for each off-axis angle to check if there is a statistically significant difference of the compressive strength between specimens with different widths. The null hypothesis, that there is no difference between the mean values is tested with a double-tailed test on a 5 % significance level. Neither of the cases may be rejected, i.e. there is no statistically significant difference on the 5 % level. The 15° off-axis case returns a p-value of 7.4 % and the 20° off-axis case gives a p-value of 21.3 %. It can be concluded that the effect is small and not statistically significant. It means that remaining off-axis testing in the larger context can proceed with the nominal width of 12 mm.

A model for the longitudinal response of laminated fibre-reinforced composites during compressive damage growth is implemented in a Finite Element (FE) package and validated for mesh objectivity. The current work details the FE implementation of the fibre kinking model and in particular challenges associated with mesh objectivity. The numerical way to solve the stress equilibrium and stress compatibility equations simultaneously in an FE framework is also presented. The results show that the current model can be used to predict the kinking response and thus account for the correct energy absorption.

In this paper, intrabundle failure initiation in NCF reinforced composite materials is predicted based on a finite element model built with shell elements. The full 3D stress state is estimated based on the shell results and used in a state of the art 3D failure criterion. The procedure considers predictions of the transverse shear and normal stresses from stress equilibrium. By using this approach on shell elements, more efficient modelling strategies suited to identify hot spots in larger structures can be pursued.

We propose a new and computationally ecient continuum damage based model, able to predict fibre /matrix shear failure under longitudinal compression for a UD ply. A structure tensor based continuum damage formulation is placed in context with the UD ply, where the elastic material response is governed by transverse isotropy. To represent the proper energy dissipation, an elastic damage model is formulated in the invariants of fibre/matrix shear and fibre compression, including failure initiation and progressive damage modeling. We are guided by the anisotropic elastic model to define four strain invariants, representing key features of the UD-ply microstructure. The damage model is applied to a Non-Crimp Fabric (NCF) composite and compared to a state of the art model based on kinking theory [6]. Instead of invoking the geometric instability into the material model, a key feature is to consider the geometrical fibre kinking instability on the macro-level based on a finite strain formulation

In this paper, a set of failure criteria for transverse failure in non-crimp fabric-reinforced composites is presented. The proposed failure criteria are physically based and take into account the orthotropic character of non-crimp fabric composites addressing the observed lack of transverse isotropy. Experimental data for transverse loading out-of-plane in combination with in-plane loads are scarce. Therefore, to validate the developed criteria, experimental data are complemented with numerical data from a representative volume element model using a meso-micromechanical approach. The representative volume element model also provides a deeper understanding of how failure occurs in non-crimp fabric composites. Strength predictions from the developed set of failure criteria show good agreement with the experimental and numerical data. © The Author(s) 2015.

A material model for unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites coupling damage to the friction acting on newly created microcracks is developed. While existing material models accounting for progressive damage assume that microcracks remain traction free under compressive load, the present model accounts for contact and friction at microcrack closure. The model is validated against experimental data and it is shown that friction can account for part of the non-linear response and the hysteresis loops typically observed in the shear response of composites. Further validation against simple crushing tests is performed and shows that the physics behind crushing is well captured.

We study the growth of self-assembled InGaSb/InAs quantum dots (QDs) and investigate how gallium can be used to reduce the optical transition energy in the InSb QD system. InGaSb QDs were grown on InAs (0 0 1) substrates by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and the material was characterized by photoluminescence (PL) measurements. A PL peak wavelength is demonstrated beyond 8 μm at 77 K, which is significantly longer than what has been reported for InSb QDs. The results suggest that InGaSb QDs can be grown at a larger size than InSb QDs leading to reduced confinement in the QDs.