Multi-Scale Damage and Mechanical Behavior of Sheet Molding Compound Composites Subjected to Fatigue, Dynamic, and Post-Fatigue Dynamic Loadings

Sheet Molding Compounds (SMCs) with special microstructures are very attractive to use in automobile structures especially when they are accidentally subjected to collision type accidents because of their high energy absorption capacity. These are materials designated as standard SMC, Advanced Sheet Molding Compounds (A-SMC), Low-Density SMC (LD-SMC) and etc. In this study, testing methods have been performed to compare the mechanical responses and damage phenomena of SMC, LD-SMC, and A-SMC under quasi-static and high strain rate tensile tests. The paper also aims at investigating the effect of an initial pre-damage induced by fatigue on the tensile dynamic behavior of A-SMC. In the case of SMCs and A-SMCs, whatever the fibers orientation and applied strain rate are, the first observed phenomenon of damage corresponds to decohesion of the fiber-matrix interface which is followed by coalescence and multiplication of these micro-cracks and their propagations. For LD-SMCs, damage mechanisms depend on the presence of Hollow Glass Microspheres (HGM) and fibers orientation.



Keywords:


References:
[1] Thornton PH, Edwards PJ. Energy absorption in composite tubes. Journal of Composite Materials. 1982;16(6): 521-45.
[2] Uenishi A, Kuriyama Y, Yoshida H, Takahashi M. Material Characterization at High Strain Rates for Optimizing Car Body Structures for Crash Events. Nippon Steel Technical Report. 2003;88.
[3] Obradovic J, Boria S, Belingardi G. Lightweight design and crash analysis of composite frontal impact energy absorbing structures. Composite Structures. 2012;94(2): 423-30.
[4] Le TH, Dumont PJJ, Orgéas L, Favier D, Salvo L, Boller E. X-ray phase contrast microtomography for the analysis of the fibrous microstructure of SMC composites. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing. 2008;39(1): 91-103.
[5] Palmer J, Savage L, Ghita OR, Evans KE. Sheet moulding compound (SMC) from carbon fibre recyclate. Composites: Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing. 2010;41(9): 1232-7.
[6] Shirinbayan M, Fitoussi J, Meraghni F, Surowiec B, Bocquet M, Tcharkhtchi A. High strain rate visco-damageable behavior of Advanced Sheet Molding Compound (A-SMC) under tension. Composites Part B: Engineering, 2015;3670(82): 30-41.
[7] Fitoussi J, Guo G, Baptiste D. A statistical micromechanical model of anisotropic damage for S. M. C. composites. Composites Science and Technology. 1998;58(5): 759-63.
[8] Fitoussi J, Bocquet M, Meraghni F. Effect of the matrix behavior on the damage of ethylene-propylene glass fiber reinforced composite subjected to high strain rate tension. Composites Part B: Engineering. 2013;45(1): 1181-91.
[9] Fitoussi J, Meraghni F, Jendli Z, Hug G, Baptiste D. Experimental methodology for high strain-rates tensile behaviour analysis of polymer matrix composites. Composites Science and Technology. 2005;65(14): 2174-88.
[10] Jendli Z, Meraghni F, Fitoussi J, Baptiste D. Micromechanical analysis of strain rate effect on damage evolution in sheet molding compound composites. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing. 2004;35(7-8): 779-85.
[11] Jendli Z, Fitoussi J, Meraghni F, Baptiste D. Anisotropic strain rate effects on the fibre-matrix interface decohesion in sheet moulding compound composites. Composites Science and Technology. 2005;65(3-4): 387-93.
[12] M. Shirinbayan, J. Fitoussi, M. Bocquet, F. Meraghni, B. Surowiec, A. Tcharkhtchi. Multi-scale experimental investigation of the viscous nature of damage in Advanced Sheet Molding Compound (A-SMC) submitted to high strain rates. Composites Part B: Engineering, 2017, 115: 3-17.
[13] M. Shirinbayan, J. Fitoussi, N. Abbasnezhad, F. Meraghni, B. Surowiec, A. Tcharkhtchi, "Mechanical characterization of a Low Density Sheet Molding Compound (LD-SMC): Multi-scale damage analysis and strain rate effect". Composites Part B: Engineering, 2017, 131: 8-20.
[14] Jacob GC, Fellers JF, Simunovic S, Starbuck JM. Energy absorption in polymer composites for automotive crashworthiness. Journal of Composite Materials. 2002;36(7): 813-49.
[15] Guster C, Pinter G, Mosenbacher A, Eichlseder W. Evaluation of a Simulation Process for Fatigue Life Calculation of Short Fibre Reinforced Plastic Components. Procedia Engineering.10(0): 2104-9.
[16] M. Shirinbayan, J. Fitoussi, F. Meraghni, M. Laribi, B. Surowiec, A. Tcharkhtchi. Coupled effect of loading frequency and amplitude on the fatigue behavior of Advanced Sheet Molding Compound (A-SMC). Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 2017, 36(4): 271-282.
[17] Mortazavian S, Fatemi A. Fatigue behavior and modeling of short fiber reinforced polymer composites including anisotropy and temperature effects. International Journal of Fatigue.2015; 77: 12-27.
[18] Atodrais D. R, Putatundaa S. K, Mallick P. K. Fatigue crack growth model and mechanism of a random fiber SMC composite. Polymer Composites. 20(2): 240-9.
[19] Bellenger V, Tcharkhtchi A, Castaing P. Thermal and mechanical fatigue of a PA66/glass fibers composite material. International Journal of Fatigue. 2006;28(10): 1348-52.
[20] Esmaeillou B, Ferreira P, Bellenger V, Tcharkhtchi A. Fatigue behavior of polyamide 66/glass fiber under various kinds of applied load. Polymer Composites.33(4): 540-47.
[21] Esmaeillou B, Fitoussi J, Lucas A, Tcharkhtchi A. Multi-scale experimental analysis of the tension-tension fatigue behavior of a short glass fiber reinforced polyamide composite. Procedia Engineering.10(0): 2117-22.
[22] Wang SS, Suemasu H, Chim ESM. Analysis of fatigue damage evolution and associated anisotropic elastic property degradation in random short-fiber composite. Engineering Fracture Mechanics. 1986;25(56): 829-44.