Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures

ISSN: 1537-6494 (Print) 1537-6532 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/umcm20

Thermo-mechanical behaviors of 3-D braided

composite material subject to high strain rate
compressions under different temperatures
Zhongxiang Pan, Bohong Gu & Baozhong Sun
To cite this article: Zhongxiang Pan, Bohong Gu & Baozhong Sun (2016) Thermo-mechanical
behaviors of 3-D braided composite material subject to high strain rate compressions under
different temperatures, Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, 23:4, 385-401, DOI:
10.1080/15376494.2014.981619
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15376494.2014.981619

Accepted author version posted online: 14

Nov 2014.
Published online: 10 Nov 2015.
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MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES

, VOL. , NO. ,
http://dx.doi.org/./..

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Thermo-mechanical behaviors of -D braided composite material subject to high

strain rate compressions under dierent temperatures
Zhongxiang Pan, Bohong Gu, and Baozhong Sun

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College of Textiles, Key Laboratory of Textile Science & Technology, Ministry of Education, Donghua University, Shanghai, China

ABSTRACT

ARTICLE HISTORY

This article reports the compressive behaviors of 3-D braided basalt fiber tows/epoxy composite materials
under the temperature range of 23210C with the strain-rate range of 13002300 s1 . A split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus with a heating device was designed to conduct the out-of-plane compression tests. It was
found that compression modulus, specific energy absorption, and peak stress decreased with the elevated
temperatures, while failure strain gradually increased with the elevated temperatures. Compression modulus and peak stress were more sensitive to the temperature effect, whereas failure strain and specific energy
absorption were more easily affected by the strain rate effect. The plasticity can be divided into two types:
(a) the platform-shape plasticity; or (b) the slope-shape plasticity. The experimental condition of 150C with
1827 s1 was a dividing threshold to differentiate the compression-failure mode and the shear-failure mode.
The authentic microstructural finite element analysis results revealed that the distribution and accumulation of the inelastic heat led to the development of shear bands. Braided reinforcement had an important
influence on the damage characteristics. When the temperature was below Tg , the material underwent a
significant temperature rise during failure. But above Tg , the temperature rise was relatively steady.

Received April
Accepted October

1. Introduction
Braided composite materials have been widely applied to
structural engineering, such as high speed vehicles and aircrafts. In service, braided composite structures often experience high temperature environments. The 3-D braiding process
was invented by General Electric [1] and then further developed and patented by Florentine [2]. They have been widely
studied since the 1970s due to their advantages of high impact
resistance, high damage tolerance, and excellent net-shape
formability compared with traditional laminates. Potential
applications for 3-D braided composites include airframe spars,
fuselage frames, ship propeller blades, rocket nose cones, engine
nozzles, biomedical devices, and so forth [3]. The reinforcing materials for 3-D braided polymer composites are typically
carbon fiber, glass fiber, aramid fiber, and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber [4]. Basalt fiber, produced from
basalt rock and comprised of single-ingredient raw material
melt, has been regarded as a new kind of high performance fiber
because of its satisfactory mechanical properties, high temperature resistant performance, high thermal shock resistance, low
thermal conductivity, perfect chemical stability, good electrical
insulation, and dielectric properties [58].
Temperature effect on the impact behaviors of fiberreinforced polymer composite has been well reported. Hirai
et al. [9] found that the damage area of woven glass fabric
composite increased with increasing temperature and impact
energy. Im et al. [10] found that delamination area per unit of
impact energy decreased with the increased surface temperature

KEYWORDS

-D braided composite;
thermo mechanical; nite
element analysis (FEA); strain
rate; compression

of carbon/epoxy laminates. The critical delamination energy

increased as the temperature increased. Akay et al. [11] investigated the effect of long-term exposure to high temperature
on the impact performance of carbon/bismaleimide plain fabric laminates. They discovered that thermal aging resulted in
progressively increased matrix loss and fiber-matrix interface
degradation. Kalthoff [12] observed that the total energy absorption of glass-fiber/vinyl-ester laminates showed a decreasing
tendency with increasing temperature. The maximum force
decreased with increasing temperature during impact progress.
Hosur et al. [13] studied the punch shear characterization of
satin weave graphite/epoxy composites at room and elevated
temperatures. The experiment demonstrated that while the
dynamic shear strength increased with the increasing strain
rate, it decreased with the rise in temperature for a given strain
rate. Higher temperatures caused the softening of the matrix.
Halvorsen et al. [14] conducted impact tests of fiberglass and
fiberglass/Kevlar sandwich structures composite. They drew the
conclusion that the primary modes of failure changed from brittle to ductile over the range of temperatures. Behzadi and Jones
[15] studied the effect of temperature on stress transfer between
a broken fiber and the adjacent fibers in unidirectional fiberreinforced composites. The results indicated that the probability of multiple in-plane fiber breaks was reduced at higher temperatures and the durability of an epoxy resin composite was
strongly influenced by the elastic-plastic behavior of the matrix.
Aktas et al. [16] investigated the impact behavior of glass/epoxy
laminated composite plates at high temperatures. They found

CONTACT Baozhong Sun

sunbz@dhu.edu.cn
College of Textiles, Key Laboratory of Textile Science & Technology, Ministry of Education, Donghua University,
North Renmin Road, Shanghai , China.
Color versions of one or more of the gures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/umcm.
Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

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Z. PAN ET AL.

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Figure . Photographs of (a) the [ ] four-step rectangular braided preform, (b) the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process, and (c) the composite section.

that the impact perforation threshold increased with increasing

temperature. David-West et al. [17] discovered that there existed
plastic failure mode of natural fiber/styrene polyester composite
at elevated temperature. However, few researches have reported
the temperature effect on the compressive impact response of
braided composite.
In this article, a series of tests was conducted to characterize the impact compression behavior of the 3-D braided
basalt/epoxy composite samples in the out-of-plane direction
under elevated temperature fields to reveal the united effect of
temperature and strain rate on the dynamic response. A finite
element model based on microstructure of the 3-D braided
composite was established. The model was used to understand
the thermo-mechanical mechanisms. The damage characteristics were influenced by temperature, strain rate, and braided
structure.

The resin sample dimension was 15.80 mm 5.50 mm 2.80

mm (length width thickness). As shown in Figure 2a, the
storage modulus decreases sharply from 105 to 115C, which
indicates that 105115C may be the glass transition region and
that 110C may be the Tg of epoxy resin of this kind. It was the
basis of the six elevated temperatures set in this article, namely,
23, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 210C.
Also, the time sweep DMA test was conducted to test the stability of the resin under temperature fields. The results at 90 and
210C are illustrated in Figure 2b, respectively. It was found that
even at 210C, during the time quantum of 60 min, the storage
modulus of resin kept invariant. Such stability verifies the feasibility of experimental heating scheme in this article.

2. Materials preparation
The braided preform, as shown in Figure 1a, was manufactured by a four-step rectangular 1 1 braiding process with
the fiber tows array of 6 6. The basalt filament tows were
manufactured by Hengdian Group Shanghai Russia and Gold
Basalt Fiber Co., Ltd. The specifications of basalt filament tows
are illustrated in Table 1. The epoxy resin (consisting of 54.5%
bisphenol A and 45.5% modified anhydride, manufactured by
Changshu Jiafa Co., Ltd) was injected into the basalt continuous filament braided preform by a vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process as illustrated in Figure 1b. The cure procedure of the composite material includes cured at 90C for 1 h,
110C for 3 h, 130C for 4 h, followed by slow cooling to 23C
over 12 h. The fiber volume of the composite was 46% and the
section size was 7.8 mm 7.8 mm as shown in Figure 1c.

3. DMA test of resin

The PerkinElmer DMA-8000 tester was used for DMA testing.
The temperature sweep DMA test of the resin was conducted by
a single cantilever bending model at the ramp rate of 3.0C/min.
Table . Specications of the basalt ber tows.
Fiber diameter
(m)

Fiber density
(g/cm )

Yarn linear
density (tex)

Figure . (a) The temperature sweep DMA test of the epoxy resin. (b) The time
sweep DMA test of the epoxy resin.

MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES

4. Split hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) apparatus

with heating device
Based on the 1-D stress wave theory [18, 19], the equations for
strain rate ( ),
strain (), and stress ( ) of the sample are given
by:
2C0
R (t ),
Ls

2C0 t
(t ) =
R (t )dt,
Ls 0
EAb
(t ) =
T (t ),
As

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(t
)=

(1)
(2)
(3)

where R (t) and T (t) are the respective strain gage signal of
the reflected and transmitted pulses, Ls is the sample length, Ab
and As are the respective cross-section area of bars and sample.
Equations (1)(3) are based on the assumption that the dynamic
forces on both sides of the sample are equal and can be expressed
as:
I + R = T .
(4)

387

well. The working principle of the control unit is that when the
temperature exceeds the set value, which was detected by the
thermocouple near the sample, the electromagnetic valve will
switch off automatically. As a result, the heating stops because of
the open circuit. Such an on and off control circuit ensures the
stability of the temperature field around the sample.
It is important that the incident bar and the transmission bar
were both out of the heat device during the heating process to
avoid the influence on the stress wave propagation caused by
the gradient temperature fields in the two bars. When the temperature of the sample stabilized for enough time (1520 min)
according to the relevant test standard [20], the two bars were
moved and contacted to the sample manually followed by an
impact test simultaneously to avoid the temperature loss of the
sample. All of the bars of the SHPB system had the same diameter of 14.5 mm. The samples were subjected to impact by the
incident bar in the out-of-plane direction. The movement of the
incident bar was not affected by the steel bracket owing to the
lower location of the bracket.

5. Experimental results and discussions

A simple and effective heat device was applied to the SHPB
system in this study. As demonstrated in Figure 3, the device
consists of a heater unit and a control unit. The heater unit consists of a heating tube and a sample bracket. There are three layers of different components in the heating tube, including the
heating layer made of metallic resistance, the insulating layer
filled by basalt fiber mat and the protective outer layer made of
steel, respectively. The length of the resistance heating tube is
210 mm with the inner diameter of 45 mm. Before the impact
test, the sample was braced by a steel bracket construction. It
ensured that the sample was just located in the middle space of
the resistance heating tube and in the extended axis of the bars as

Figure . Schematic sketch of the SHPB testing system with a heat device.

The impact compression tests on composite samples in out-ofplane (through-thickness) direction at high strain rates were
accomplished by the SHPB system with the heating device at
the six elevated temperatures. Three times of repeatable tests
were conducted to obtain one reliable stress versus strain curves
under each temperature field at each pressure.

5.1. Experimental waveform

At the same temperature, the waveform of different gas
pressures had similar shape characteristics but a difference in

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Z. PAN ET AL.

amplitudes. Therefore, the group data under the gas pressure of

0.50 MPa was used as an example to reveal the temperature effect
on the experimental waveforms. The typical input and output
signals detected by the strain gages (specific locations as labeled
in Figure 3) are presented in Figure 4. From 23 to 90C the transmitted waveforms are approximately platform-like shapes, while
they are slope-like shapes from 90 to 210C.

5.2. Strain rate characterization

0.35 = 1240.47487 + 1.33101T (R = 0.95586) ,

0.50 = 1609.40308 + 1.66245T (R = 0.97252)
0.65 = 2009.69533 + 1.16972T (R = 0.90543) ,

(5)
(6)
(7)

where T is the temperature, 0.35 , 0.50 , and 0.65 are the respective strain rates based on the three different gas pressures.
5.3. Stress versus strain characterization
Characteristics of the plasticity could be divided into two types
according to the ambient temperatures: (a) the platform-shape
plasticity; or (b) the slope-shape plasticity. For example in
Figure 6b, when the ambient temperature is below the Tg (from

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As shown in Figure 5, strain rates of the out-of-plane compression are different due to different gas pressures. There were
three gradient strain rate regionsrespectively from 1300 to
1600 s1 , 1700 to 2000 s1 , and from 2100 to 2300 s1 the
corresponding gas pressures were 0.35, 0.50, and 0.65 MPa as
shown in Figure 5d. Even at the same gas pressure, the elevated

temperatures lead to the gradual increase of strain rates. The linear regressions between the strain rates and the temperatures are
given in Eqs. (5)(7):

Figure . The typical signals of input wave and output wave of out-of-plane compression of the -D braided composite at , , , , , and C.

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MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES

389

Figure . The typical strain rate vs. time curves of out-of-plane compression of the -D braided composite: (a) at the . MPa; (b) at the . MPa; (c) at the . MPa gas
pressure under the temperature elds of , , , , , and C; and (d) the strain rates of the three corresponding dierent gas pressures.

23 to 90C), the stress versus strain curves increase nearly linearly until reaching the yield strength values followed by a slight
increasing stage of stress. When the ambient temperature is
above the Tg (from 120 to 210C), the initial stage of linearity
is not manifest but the stress versus strain curves show slopeshape plasticity.
Both the strain softening and strain hardening could be
observed during the plastic stage after yield point in each stress
versus strain curve. Such opposite mechanisms caused the fluctuation of plasticity. Completely different from the dislocation of
crystal lattices in metallic material, the plasticity of 3-D braided
composite is determined by the deformation of resin and reinforcement structure.
5.4. The effect of temperature
Figure 7 depicts the quantitative mechanical parameters, which
were extracted from the experimental data above. The polynomial regressions between the four mechanical parameters and
the temperatures are given in Eqs. (8)(19):
E0.35 = 6.32395 + 0.01920T 6.25867 104 T 2
b
0.35

+ 1.97491T 3 (R = 0.98760),
= 266.59500 + 0.14340T 0.00584T 2
+ 1.29557 105 T 3 (R = 0.95464),

(8)
(9)

b
= 13.93798 0.01967T + 3.45098 104 T 2
0.35

9.33814 107 T 3 (R = 0.91684),

= 29.20144 0.01966T 4.76091 104 T 2

(10)
(11)

E0.50

+ 1.05430 106 T 3 (R = 0.91202),

= 6.68183 + 0.00658T 4.51486 104 T 2

b
0.50

+ 1.42659T 3 (R = 0.96635),
(12)
2
= 285.66347 0.57743T + 0.00514T 2.09628

Q0.35

b
0.50

105 T 3 (R = 0.98782),
= 17.36360 + 0.02474T 1.04659 104 T 2
+ 1.71207 107 T 3 (R = 0.93421),
4

Q0.50 = 41.85884 0.01195T 4.43612 10 T

+ 1.83223 107 T 3 (R = 0.91063),

(13)
(14)

(15)

E0.65 = 7.00417 0.00263T 3.62194 104 T 2

+ 1.20478 106 T 3 (R = 0.97204),

(16)

= 294.93971 0.89717T + 0.00792T

2.53787 105 T 3 (R = 0.91901),

(17)

b
0.65

b
= 20.82603 0.00767T + 1.90215 104 T 2
0.65
4.87986 107 T 3 (R = 0.96330),
Q0.65 = 47.61155 0.04700T 1.94402 104 T 2

+ 6.07171 108 T 3 (R = 0.99538),

(18)
(19)

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Q0.50 , and Q0.65 are the respective specific energy absorption at

the three different gas pressures.
From 23 to 210C, the ratio of change of the mechanical
parameters are listed in Table 2.
Compression modulus, among the four parameters, is the
most affected by the temperature rise. As illustrated in Figure 2a,
the modulus of the epoxy resin decreases with the elevated
temperatures, particularly during the glass transition region
between 105 and 115C. Peak stress is relatively the least affected
by the temperature rise, especially at high strain rates. Apart
from Tg , another distinct loss of peak stress occurs at the temperatures around 210C, which can be explained by Figure 8.
Molecular movement in polymer is strongly temperaturedependent. Below Tg , the frozen state of molecular chain segments in polymer makes the material hard and brittle. Above Tg ,
the elastomeric state of the polymer is caused by configuration
change of molecular chain segments, which leads the polymer
to be ductile at a macroscopic level. The partially enlarged view
from 150 to 210C in Figure 8 exhibits that the critical inflection
point between elastomeric state and viscous flow state of resin is
just below 210C. That may be the reason for the poor performance of 3-D braided basalt/epoxy composite at 210C.
5.5. The effect of strain rate
The strain rate effect of 3-D braided basalt/epoxy composite
is embodied in the variation of mechanical parameters, which
are exhibited in Figure 9 at the respective same temperature to
exclude the influence of the temperature effect. All of the data
prove the strain rate sensitivity of the 3-D braided basalt/epoxy
composite. With the increase of strain rate, compression modulus, peak stress, failure strain, and specific energy absorption
increased at each temperature. The range of increase of mechanical parameters from 1300 to 2300 s1 are listed in Table 3. Obviously, failure strain and specific energy absorption are more sensitive to strain rate than other mechanical parameters.
5.6. The effect of both the temperature and strain rate

Figure . The typical stress vs. strain curves of out-of-plane compression of the -D
braided composite: (a) at the . MPa; (b) at the . MPa; (c) at the . MPa gas
pressure under the temperature elds of , , , , , and C.

where T is the temperature; E0.35 , E0.50 , and E0.65 are the respective compression modulus at the three different gas pressures;
b
b
b
, 0.50
, and 0.65
are the respective peak stresses at the three
0.35
b
b
b
, 0.50
, and 0.65
are the respecdifferent gas pressures; 0.35
tive failure strains at the three different gas pressures; and Q0.35 ,

The 3-D color map surface graphs (Figure 10) present a visualized comprehension of the cumulative effect of temperature
and strain rate on the dynamic mechanical response of the 3-D
braided basalt/epoxy composite. It exhibits the different levels of
dependency of temperature effect or stain rate effect. Figure 10
demonstrates that the decrease of compression modulus and
peak stress is more susceptible to the temperature effect, whereas
the increase of failure strain and specific energy absorption are
more easily affected by the strain rate effect. Furthermore, the
3-D color map surface graphs offer a good access to predict
the mechanical performance in some experimental conditions,
which were not conducted in this study.

6. Finite element modeling of the thermo-mechanical

behaviors
Figure 11 exhibits the typical damage morphologies of samples
in this study. Surfaces of the top view were directly subjected to
the impact. Surfaces of the side view were out of contact with the

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MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES

Figure . The mechanical properties of out-of-plane compression of the -D braided composite: (a) at the . MPa; (b) at the . MPa; (c) at the . MPa gas pressure
under the temperature elds of , , , , , and C.

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Z. PAN ET AL.

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Table . The range of change of mechanical parameters from to C.

Gas
pressure

The range of
strain-rate

Compression
modulus

. MPa
. MPa
. MPa

s
s
s

.%
.%
.%

Peak tress

Failure
strain

Specic
energy
absorption

.%
.%
.%

+.%
+.%
+.%

.%
.%
.%

Hopkinson bars. Under higher temperature fields, the deformations of samples are much more distinct. At higher strain rates,
deformation and damage morphologies are much more severe.
Damage morphologies in Figures 11a and 11b show that,
between 12931827 s1 , crack and fragmentation does not
imperil the integrity of the whole composite. As a result, after
the fracture of resin, the braided reinforcement structure acts
as an important role in absorbing impact energy. However, the
catastrophic shear failure starts from the strain rates of 1827
s1 (at the temperature of 150C). The catastrophic shear mode
prevails between 18272263 s1 as shown in Figures 11b and
11c. The shear cracks propagate along the longitudinal direction
of the fiber tows through the whole braided reinforcement. To
explore the thermo-mechanical failure mechanism, an authentic microstructural FEM model was established to simulate the
two different failure and damage processes: (1) at 1675 s1 with
the temperature of 60C; and (2) at 1827 s1 with the temperature of 150C.

6.1. Microstructure model

A 3-D braided composite model was established with commercial computer-aided design (CAD) software (CATIA-V5R20)
and combined with commercial FEA software (ABAQUS/CAE).
The microstructure model was established based on real structure of the 3-D braided composite in the experimental study.
Figure 12a is the microstructure model of the braided reinforcement and Figure 12b shows the resin in the braided composite. Figure 12d presents the model for the SHPB test. The
braided reinforcement was meshed with 16,329 solid elements
of C3D8R, the resin with 209,943 solid elements of C3D10, and

Figure . The stress vs. strain curves and their mechanical properties of out-ofplane compression of the -D braided composite at the dierent gas pressures
under dierent temperature elds.

Figure . The partial enlarged view of Figure from to C.

the Hopkinson bars with 31,888 solid elements of C3D10 in

ABAQUS.
In the braided composite, each fiber tows contains tens of
thousands of filaments with resin impregnated among them.
Figure 12c shows a typical orientation definition of one fiber

MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES

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Table . The range of increase of mechanical parameters from to s

393

ratio, and shear modulus of the basalt yarn with impregnation of

f
f
f
f
f
f
resin, respectively; E11 , E22 , 12 , 23 , G12 , and G23 are longiSpecic
The range of
Failure
energy
tudinal modulus, transverse modulus, Poissons ratio, and shear
Temperature strain-rate Compression Peak tress strain absorption
modulus of a single basalt fiber, respectively; Em , m , and Gm
(C)
(s )
modulus (%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
are the elastic modulus, Poissons ratio, and shear modulus of the

+.
+. +. +.
resin, respectively; f is the fiber-packing factor in yarn and was

+.
+. +.
+.
defined [22] as:

+.
+.
+.
+.


2

+.
+.
+.
+.
2
2 3D2y n + 2 1
2 3D2y (m + 2 1)

+.
+.
+. +.
=
,(27)
f =

+.
+.
+. +.
3wx2 cos
3wy2 cos

Dy = 4/ ,
(28)
tows. Fiber tows was treated as a transverse-isotropic unidirec
=
Tex
/1000,
(29)
y
tional composite based on Chamis method [21] as follows:

tan = 2 tan ,
(30)
f
(20)
E11 = f E11 + m Em ,
 

 f 
where Texy ( Texy = 1200) is the tows linear density, ( =
E22 = E33 = Em 1 f 1 Em E22 ,
(21) 2.65 g/cm3 ) is the fiber density, ( = 35.5 ) is the braiding
f
(22) angle, m ( m = 6) is the number of yarns in width, n ( n = 6)
12 = 13 = f 12 + m m ,
is the number of yarns in thickness, wx ( wx = 7.5 mm) is the
f
23 = f 23 + m m ,
(23) width of the 3-D braided reinforcement, and wy ( wy = 7.5 mm)
 

is the thickness of the 3-D braided reinforcement.
f 
G12 = G13 = Gm 1 f 1 Gm /G12 , (24)
The equivalent thermal expansion coefficient [23] and the
 

f 
equivalent
thermal conductivity coefficient [23] vary with tem(25)
G23 = Gm 1 f 1 Gm /G23 ,
perature and f :
f + m = 1,
(26)
 f f
 f

11 = 11 E11 f + m Em m E11 f + Em m ,
(31)
where E11 , E22 , E33 , 12 , 13 , 23 , G12 , G13 , and G23 are the

f  f
22 = 33 = 1 + 12 22 f + (1 + m )m m 11 12 , (32)
equivalent longitudinal modulus, transverse modulus, Poissons

Figure . The mechanics properties of out-of-plane compression of the -D braided composite under the coupling eect of temperature and strain rate.

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394

Figure . The typical damage morphologies of out-of-plane compression of the -D braided composite: (a) at the gas pressure of . MPa; (b) at the gas pressure of .
MPa; and (c) at the gas pressure of . MPa.
f

k11 = k11 f + km m ,
 f

f
k22 = k33 = k22 km k22 f + km m ,

(33)
(34)

where 11 and 22 are the longitudinal and transverse equivalent thermal expansion coefficients of fiber tows impregnated
with resin. m is the thermal expansion coefficient of the

resin. k11 and k22 are the longitudinal and transverse equivalent thermal conductivity coefficients of fiber tows impregnated with resin. km is the thermal conductivity coefficient of
resin.
Mechanical parameters of basalt fiber and epoxy resin at different temperatures are listed in Tables 4 and 5. In the present
study, f equaled to 69.2% and the thermal parameters of

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MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES

Figure . (a) Mesh schemes of braided reinforcement; (b) mesh schemes of epoxy resin; (c) typical orientation denition of a ber tow; and (d) the SHPB testing model.

basalt fiber and resin are listed in Table 6. The equivalent thermal expansion coefficients and equivalent thermal conductivity
coefficients of the fiber tows impregnated with the epoxy resin
were calculated and listed in Table 7. The engineering constants
of the fiber tows impregnated with the epoxy resin were calculated and listed in Table 8.

6.2. Heat generation in FEM

It is well known that plastic work in metallic and polymeric
materials is dissipated by heat during a high strain-rate impact
process [24]. The quantity characterizing the proportion of plastic work dissipated as heat is commonly denoted as , which is
usually called the inelastic heat fraction coefficient [25]. can be

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Z. PAN ET AL.

Table . Mechanical parameters of basalt ber.

Table . Thermal parameters of basalt ber and epoxy resin.

Ef
(MPa)

Ef
(MPa)

Ef
(MPa)

Gf
(MPa)

Gf
(MPa)

Gf
(MPa)

12 f

13 f

23 f

m
k
k
km
Cf
Cm
( ) ( ) ( ) (W/mK) (W/mK) (W/mK) (kJ/kg.K) (kJ/kg.K)

introduced as a source of coupling for thermomechanical analysis. Thermomechanical analysis is important in a simulation
where extensive inelastic deformation occurs rapidly in a material whose mechanical properties are temperature dependent.
The model assumes that plastic straining gives rise to a heat
flux per unit volume of [26]:
r = : ,

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pl

pl

(35)

where r pl is the heat flux that is added into the thermal energy
balance; is the inelastic heat fraction, which is assumed to be
a constant; is the stress; and pl is the rate of plastic straining. For all the plasticity models in ABAQUS, the plastic strain
increment is written from the flow potential as:
pl = pl n,

(36)

where n is the flow direction ( n = n(, pl , ), where is the

temperature), and pl is a scalar measure of plastic straining that
is used as a hardening parameter in the yield surface and flow
potential definitions in some of the plasticity models. ABAQUS
provides thermomechanical coupling for isotropic hardening.
In the software of ABAQUS, a backward Euler scheme is used
to integrate the plastic strain. Then r pl at the end of the increment is approximated as:
1
 pl n : ( + t ),
2t

Note: : thermal expansion coecient; k: thermal conductivity coecient; C: specic

heat capacity.

[27, 28] to conduct a heat generation calculation in the present

FEM model.
6.3. Damage criterion
Many damage criterions can be specified for a given material.
If multiple damage criteria are specified for the same material, they are treated independently. Once a particular initiation
criterion is satisfied, the material stiffness is degraded according to the specified damage evolution law for that criterion [26].
Ductile and shear damage criterion [26] were selected in the
model to simulate the failure and damage process of the 3-D
braided composite.
In ductile criterion, it assumes that the equivalent plastic
pl
strain at the onset of damage, D , is a function of stress triaxiality and strain rate:


pl
(39)
D , pl ,
where = p/q is the stress triaxiality, p is the pressure stress,

q is the Mises equivalent stress, and D pl is the equivalent plastic

strain rate. Hooputra et al. [29] have given a simplified expression of the ductile criterion in the explicit form as:

 + sin h[k ( )] + sin h[k ( + )]

D
D
pl
D
D , pl = D
,
sin h[kD ( + )]
(40)
where all quantities are evaluated at the end of the increment (at
time t + t) except t .
+

In the case of dynamic loading, where adiabatic conditions where D and D are the equivalent plastic strain at ductile
tensile and uniaxial compressive
usually prevail since the heat dissipates at a rate much slower damage initiation for uniaxial
+
=
1/3 and = 1/3 are the stress
deformation,
respectively.

than it is generated, the heat conduction equation can be written

triaxiality in uniaxial tensile and uniaxial compressive deformaas:
tion state. kD is a material parameter. The criterion for damage
(38) initiation is met when the following condition is satisfied:
: pl = CT ,

d pl

=
(41)

 = 1,
D
where is the density and C is the specific heat of elastic-plastic
pl
pl
,

material.
D
Since the matrix of the 3-D braided composite in this study
was a kind of bisphenol A epoxy resin, the was taken as 0.25 where D is a state variable that increases monotonically with
r pl =

(37)

Table . Dynamic mechanical analysis and dynamic compression data of the epoxy
resin at dierent temperatures.

T (C)

plastic deformation. At each increment during the analysis the

Table . Equivalent thermal expansion coecients and equivalent thermal conductivity coecients of basalt tows.

Em (MPa)
(DMA data)

Em (MPa)
(SHPB tests,
s )

T (C)

.
.
.
.
.
.

( )

( )

k (W/mK)

k (W/mK)

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.

MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES

397

Table . Equivalent engineering constants of basalt ber tows under s-

E11
(MPa)

E22
(MPa)

E33
(MPa)

12

13

23

G12
(MPa)

G13
(MPa)

G23
(MPa)

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.

Downloaded by [Tulane University] at 01:57 02 December 2015

T
(C)

Figure . Damage morphologies and evolutionary process of compression failure mode at the temperature of C with s .

Z. PAN ET AL.

Downloaded by [Tulane University] at 01:57 02 December 2015

398

Figure . Damage morphologies and evolutionary process of catastrophic shear failure mode at the temperature of C with s .

increase in D is computed as:

d pl
D =

 0.
pl
D , pl

(42)

The shear criterion is a phenomenological model for predicting the onset of shear-band localization. The model assumes that
pl
the equivalent plastic strain at the onset of damage S is a function of the shear ratio and strain rate:


pl
(43)
S S , pl ,

where S = (q + kS p)/max is the shear stress ratio, max is the

maximum shear stress, and kS is a material parameter. Hooputra et al. [29] have given a simplified expression of the shear
criterion in the explicit form as:

pl
S

 + sin h[ fS S ] + sin h fS  + 
S
S
S
S
S , pl = S
,
sin h[ fS (S+ S )]
(44)

MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES

399

where S = (1 kS )/ with = max /eq , and S+ and S

correspond to the equivalent plastic strain at shear damage initiative for uniaxal tensile and compressive deformation, respectively. The parameters S+ and S correspond to the values of S
at = + and = , respectively. fS is a material parameter.
The criterion for damage initiation is met when the following
condition is satisfied:

d pl
(45)
S =

 = 1,
pl
S S , pl
where S is a state variable that increases monotonically with
plastic deformation. At each increment during the analysis the
increase in S is computed as:

Downloaded by [Tulane University] at 01:57 02 December 2015

S =

d pl

 0.
pl
S S , pl

(46)

After damage initiation, the degradation with the removal of

elements in the FEM model occurs according to the specified
damage evolution law. In this study, damage energy was given as
25N mm for the basalt tows and 1N mm for the epoxy resin. The
damage evolution law describes the rate of degradation of the
material stiffness once the corresponding initiation criterion has
been reached. ABAQUS [26] assumes that the degradation of
the stiffness associated with each active failure mechanism can
be modeled using a scalar damage variable, di (i Nact ), where
Nact represents the set of active mechanisms. At any given time
during the analysis the stress tensor is given by the scalar damage
equation:
= (1 D),

(47)

where D is the overall damage variable and is the effective (or

undamaged) stress tensor computed in the current increment.
are the stresses that would exist in the material in the absence of
damage. In this study, the material lost its load-carrying capacity when D = 0.9 and elements were removed from the mesh
automatically.
6.4. Damage progress
During plastic straining and damage evolution, in fully-coupled
thermomechanical FEA, node temperature (NT11 in ABAQUS)
calculated progressively is a critical denotation to reveal the failure mechanism. Results are displayed step by step to simulate the
two different failure modes both at 1675 s1 with the temperature of 60C in Figure 13 and at 1827 s1 with the temperature
of 150C in Figure 14.
From 0 s (the composite sample starts to be in the function of input stress wave) to 165 s (the end of impact), the
temperature rise illustrates that inelastic heat generated in resin
matrix is more than that in fiber reinforcement. At 60C, the
temperature rise, 20.7C in resin matrix, is higher than 15.6C in
fiber reinforcement. And at 150C, the temperature rise, 30.7C
in resin matrix, is higher than 21.3C in fiber reinforcement.
Correspondingly, the damage level of the resin matrix is much
more serious than that of fiber reinforcement. For resin matrix,

Figure . Compressive stress and temperature vs. strain (a) at the ambient temperature of C with s and (b) at the temperature of C with s .

the closer to fiber tows, the less inelastic heat generation with
lower damage level. However, for fiber reinforcement, the closer
to resin matrix, the more inelastic heat generation with higher
damage level.
The distribution and accumulation of inelastic heat lead to
the development of shear bands. During the compression failure mode as shown in Figure 13, the inelastic heat accumulates
dispersedly in resin matrix between fiber tows. The scattered
damage regions, as shown in the section view, are not large
enough to connect with each other. However, during the catastrophic failure mode, as shown in Figure 14, the scattered damage regions are large enough to evolve catastrophic shear bands.
The braiding structure has an important influence on thermomechanical damage. The increase of braiding angle during
the compressive process leads to the increase of the angle as
in the top view and in the side view of the composite sample
in Figures 13 and 14. The boundary effect of braiding structure
is also a vital factor for the damage of the composite. The facetdamage regions, which contact with the Hopkinson bars, extend
the shear bands. Therefore, edge regions and corner regions
are always in a great severe damage state with easily vulnerable
removal of material.

400

Z. PAN ET AL.

The typical relationship between the mechanical response

and temperature rise is illustrated in Figure 15. When the ambient temperature (60C) is below the Tg , inelastic heat generation is low but with the incremental rate as shown in Figure 15a.
Once the material fails, it undergoes a significant temperature rise. This suggests a widely nonhomogeneous resin failure
between fiber tows in the sample. When the ambient temperature (150C) is above the Tg , the temperature rise is relatively
steady as shown in Figure 15b.
Given that brittle material fails without distinct thermal phenomenon at high strain rate, the 3-D braided composite is a typical kind of elastic-plastic material with thermomechanical failure mechanism.

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7. Conclusions
High strain rate tests were successfully accomplished by the
SHPB apparatus with the heat device. Results of the experiments
indicated that the dynamic out-of-plane compression behavior
of the 3-D braided basalt/epoxy was affected by temperature and
strain rate. The following was noted:
1. The characteristics of plasticity can be divided into two
types according to the ambient temperature below or
above the Tg of epoxy resin: (a) the platform-shape plasticity, or (b) the slope-shape plasticity.
2. Compression modulus, specific energy absorption and
peak stress decrease with the elevated temperature, while
the failure strain gradually increase with the elevated
temperature. Compression modulus and peak stress are
more susceptible to the temperature effect, whereas failure strain and specific energy absorption are more easily
affected by the strain rate effect.
3. There are two threshold temperatures for strength: (a)
around the Tg and (b) around 210C.
4. The inelastic heat generated in resin matrix is more than
that in the fiber reinforcement. For resin matrix, the
closer to fiber tows, the less inelastic heat generation with
lower damage level. However, for the braided reinforcement, the closer to resin matrix, the more inelastic heat
generation with higher damage level.
5. The experimental condition of 150C with 1827 s1 is
a dividing threshold for two different failure modes: (a)
compression failure mode and (b) catastrophic shear failure mode. During the compression failure mode, scattered damage regions are not large enough to connect
with each other to evolve shear bands. However, during
the catastrophic failure mode, scattered damage regions
are large enough forming shear bands.
6. When the temperature is below Tg , once the material
fails, it undergoes a significant temperature rise. When
the temperature is above Tg , the temperature rise is relatively steady.

Funding
The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Science
Foundation of China (No. 11272087) and the Fok Ying-Tong Education
Foundation (Grant No. 141070). The financial support from the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of PR China

(No. 201056), the Key Grant Project of Chinese Ministry of Education (No.
113027A), Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan (Nos.
12521102400 and 12dz1100407), and the Chinese Universities Scientific
Fund (CUSF-DH-D-2014002) are also gratefully acknowledged.

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