Investigation of Progressive Damage in Chopped Glass Fiber/Epoxy Composites under Simple Tensile Loading and Evaluation of Chow and Wang Model

 Chopped fiber composites have become attractive materials for many industrial applications due to simplicity of their manufacturing processes and uniform mechanical properties. The subject of this paper is investigation of damage progression in random chopped Eglass fiber/Epoxy composites and evaluation of Chow and Wang Model in simple tensile test. In the experimental section, digital
image correlation method was applied and variation curves of the Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio in tensile test of specimens were extracted until rupture. In theoretical section, for investigation of anisotropic damage and distinguishing between damage mechanism due to tensile and compressive stresses, the first part of the Chow and Wang criterion was employed. Growth of damage variables during the failure progression was characterized and anisotropic damage evolution in this composite was concluded. By means of linear approximation of damage dependency coefficient, validation of the model for prediction of mechanical behavior of the damaged composite was confirmed by comparing with experimental results.