Damage and Failure Identification of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Laminates under Static and Dynamic Loading

One of the key developments of recent times is composite technology using fiber reinforced polymeric materials. The excellent specific properties of these materials perfectly meet the requirements of the aerospace industry which is in need of more light and, overall, more efficient materials. Since 1970s, thermoset composites have been the preferred type of composite material because of their high failure strength, low creep, high elastic modulus with a relatively low cost compared to thermoplastic composites. Thermosetting composites have, however, limitations in terms of storage, aging and toughness other than processing constraints due to the long and strict multi-step processing. Because of these limitations extensive research with the goal of replacing thermoset matrices with thermoplastic ones, is on the rise. Fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites are a promising alternative to thermoset composites because of their better damage tolerance and impact resistance. This kind of composites also have a high potential for recyclability and repairability which attracts the interests of researchers and developers as part of a broader focus towards sustainability. Last but not least thermoplastic composites also offer faster production cycles. This work concerns the development and validation of a constitutive model tailored towards fiber reinforced thermoplastics. The model here proposed is implemented in a finite element method solver software and it's being verified experimentally.