Size Scales for Accurate Homogenization in the Presence of Severe Stress Gradients

Abstract

The influence of fibrous microstructure on the response of a composite laminate is examined. The free edge problem originally studied by Pagano and Rybicki [1] is used as the mechanism for this solution. The study examines scale effects in some detail and concludes that, in this class of problems for a realistic range of size parameters and fiber volume fractions, a primitive form of multiscale model is sufficient to capture local details of the microstress distribution. We also point out some key problems that will further clarify and generalize the issues surrounding multiscale modeling of composite laminates.