An effective finite element modeling approach for prediction of the behaviour of a jute fibre-reinforced composite tube under axial impact

Abstract

The focus of the work reported here is on the prediction of the behaviour of a hollow cylindrical jute– polyester composite tube under axial impact using the explicit finite element analysis code, LS-DYNA. An efficient finite element modelling approach using a single shell element through the thickness of a thin-walled structural part has been chosen. Effective orthotropic material properties of a laminate which can be determined through standard ASTM tests have been used as input data for a popular constitutive model titled ‘Enhanced Composite Damage’ with the option of specifying either the Chang–Chang criteria or the Tsai–Wu criterion for failure. A unique feature of the current approach is to verify the modeling procedure initially for coupon-level tensile, compressive and flexural tests through a numerical design of experiments involving a set of physically meaningful fibre and matrix failure strain parameters, and then extend the same toward successfully predicting the mechanical behaviour of a jute composite tube subject to axial drop-weight impact. Theoretical predictions of peak responses for flexural and tube impact tests are also presented.

Keywords:

• Jute–polyester composite laminate
• mechanical characterisation tests
• cylindrical tube
• axial impact
• finite element modeling
• theoretical prediction

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support received from a UAY (Uchhatar Abishkar Yojana) Grant with MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development), Government of India, as the principal sponsor.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.