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Randomization Algorithm for the Micromechanical Modeling of Fiber-reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites
Abstract
The randomized nature of fiber orientations on the micromechanical level greatly affects the stress and strain distributions in composites which ultimately determines the initiation of different possible failure mechanisms. This paper presents a new algorithm for generating randomly packed Representative Unit Cells (RUCs) with high volume fractions to act as a preprocessor in Finite Element Analyses (FEA) for predicting mechanical properties and failure mechanisms in Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs). The proposed algorithm first packs fibers within the RUC hexagonally, then, shifts them randomly through the domain while preventing overlap amongst neighboring fibers. Inputs of this algorithm are: fiber volume fraction, vf , fiber diameter, df , and total number of fibers, nf . Square RUCs of dimension LRUC are created in a time efficient manner.
DOI
10.12783/asc2017/15299
10.12783/asc2017/15299