Damage analysis of hybrid carbon/Glass-Epoxy pipe elbows under bending and pressure loading

Given their many advantages, composite materials have always proven their effectiveness. As in aeronautical structures where reinforcement techniques are used, their application is widened in various fields. Analyzing these composite structures or proposing new concepts for reinforcements remains an interest of several researchers. This work opts for the use of a hybrid composite of a tubular structure of an elbow attached by straight parts. The structural composite is twill. The aim of the elbow damage study is to evaluate the proposed reinforcement concept. The stiffness and damage parameters of the plies are introduced at the size of the fiber and according to the thickness per row of finite elements, hence the use of an adequate meshing technique. The linear behavior follows the equivalent stress flow theory of Von Mises. The results presented as moment-rotation curves were evaluated under design effect and bending moment mode. Depending on the loading conditions, the proposed concept of the hybrid composite showed an overcapacity of resistance where the location of the fiber qualities played the optimization of this capacity. The structure has shown even more resistance for certain locations of the folds which are reinforced in thickness. Depending on the bending moment mode applied, the results show that the damage is caused at very low deformations by ovalization of the elbow and in fiber tension.