Micromechanical study of fibre- matrix debonding and matrix cracking using cohesive zone model and extended finite element method

One of the most important issues about the composites behavior in different loading conditions is the initiation and propagation of various damage modes that have significant effects on the application of these materials. Fiber/matrix debonding is one of the first damage modes that appears in different composites and causes the formation of other damage modes like matrix cracking. In the present study, by using the cohesive zone model (CZM) as well as an extended finite element method (XFEM) and by applying a transverse loading on different representative volume elements (RVE’s) in micromechanical scale, the effects of initiation and propagation of different damage modes like fiber/matrix debonding and matrix cracking will be studied. To this aim, the authors start by studying the behavior of cohesive zone model and validating the applied method by simulating the previous researchs. Then, the effects of cohesive zone on different volume elements will be studied and the results will compare with each other. Finally by entering the effects of matrix cracking initiation and propagation using the extended finite element method, effects of cohesive zone damage and matrix cracking will be studied simultaneously based on finite element method and using Abaqus software