Micromechanics-based reliability analysis method for laminated composite structures

This paper proposes an improved reliability analysis method for composite structures. A new uncertainty model is introduced to quantify the uncertainty in the elastic properties and strength characteristics of the constituents. A multi-scale analysis procedure is developed to link scales in elastic properties, and solve the mechanical responses of all scales. A set of limit state functions are defined, corresponding to the failure modes of intralaminar constituents’ failure and interlaminar delamination. First-order reliability method presents good convergence and accuracy of reliability estimation. Numerical cases are studied to demonstrate the validity and improvements of the proposed method.