Analysis of the Influence of Layer Shifting on the Elastic Response and Damage Nucleation and Growth in Woven Composite Laminates

The influence of relative layer shifting on the elastic and damage response of plain weave composite laminates is analyzed using a continuum damage mechanics approach in combination with the finite element method. First, the homogenized properties of the woven composite as a function of the number of layers and of layer shifting are presented. Next, the damage development in various shifting configurations is studied using different damage constitutive models for the matrix and the fiber bundles. It is shown that the impact of layer shifting on both the elastic response and the nonlinear damage response is significant. Most notably, the model captures changes in the damage mechanisms within the woven composite that occur due to layer shifting, resulting in stiffer, more brittle behavior, which has been shown experimentally in the literature. Model results in the linear and nonlinear regimes are shown to be consistent with both an independent analytical model and reported experiments.