Assessment and propagation of mechanical property uncertainties in fatigue life prediction of composite laminates

Abstract

A probabilistic model for estimating the fatigue life of laminated composite materials considering the uncertainty in their mechanical properties is developed. The uncertainty in the material properties is determined from fatigue coupon tests. Based on this uncertainty, probabilistic constant life diagrams are developed which can efficiently estimate probabilistic ɛ-N curves at any load level and stress ratio. The probabilistic ɛ-N curve information is used in a reliability analysis for fatigue limit state proposed for estimating the probability of failure of composite laminates under variable amplitude loading cycles. Fatigue life predictions of unidirectional and multi-directional glass/epoxy laminates are carried out to validate the proposed model against experimental data. The probabilistic fatigue behavior of laminates is analyzed under constant amplitude loading conditions as well as under both repeated block tests and spectral fatigue using the WISPER, WISPERX, and NEW WISPER load sequences for wind turbine blades.

Keywords

Uncertainty probabilistic fatigue mechanical properties laminates composite

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