Computer modeling of effective elastic moduli of multilayered fiber-reinforced composites

The paper presents the results of computer modeling of the laminate effective elastic properties. Laminate is composed of unidirectional fiber reinforced layers stacked in various orientations. Interaction between fiber and matrix in each layer is assumed to be ideal, both the fibers and matrix are linearly elastic, the layers are ideally bounded together, the layers elastic moduli are known. A structural-phenomenological approach based on the thin shell theory is implemented. Elastic moduli of cross-ply and quasi-isotropic laminates, composed of 8, 16, 40 and 48 carbon-fibers in epoxy matrix, under in-plane loading are analyzed. Calculated values of effective elastic moduli are compared to the experimental data and to the values calculated in commercial software package Ansys Composite PrePost. Predicted elastic properties for cross-ply laminates are in precise agreement with experimental results. Predictive accuracy of effective moduli reduces with the increase in number of layers of quasi-isotropic laminates which is the result of assumed simplification of interaction absence between composite layers in mathematical model.