Ala Tabiei¨ and Qing Chen§

CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN DYNA3D ANALYSIS

Department of Aerospace Eng. & Eng. Mechanics

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0070

A micro-mechanical model is developed for laminated composite materials and implemented in the explicit finite element method. The objective of this study is to get an accurate and simple micro-model, which can be used in the displacement-based explicit finite element packages. The micro-mechanical model implemented in the explicit finite element code can be used for simulating the behavior of composite structures under various loads such as impact and crash. The stress-strain relation for the micro-model is derived for shell element. As a demonstration case of the developed micro-model a finite element model of Graphite/Epoxy tube structure is developed and simulated under axial crash.