Constitutive model of micromechanical damage to predict reduction in stiffness of a fatigued SMC composite

Elastic behavior of sheet molding compound (SMC) composites with a given orientational distribution of fibers under cyclic loading is investigated herein. Fatigue tests were carried out over various strain ranges. During each test, evolution of Young's modulus was measured and the composite was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. Observations revealed the principal form of degradation to be matrix fiber debonding. A constitutive model that takes into account the reduction of overall elastic properties, i.e., Young's modulus, was developed. This model uses a Mori-Tanaka mean field approach coupled with a micromechanical damage law. The energetic failure criterion and the failure probability are functions of local shear and normal stresses calculated at each point of the interface of each fiber family. A procedure for identifying the most appropriate material parameters is described in detail. The proposed model agrees well with the experimental results.