Modelling of composite materials with thermoplastic matrices, carbon fibres, and nanoparticles

This paper reports a study regarding the modelling of the mechanical behaviour of a thermoplastic matrix/carbon fibre reinforced composite. It has been shown that the multiscale modelling approach, based on the submodelling technique, describes the material behaviour accurately enough. To simulate non-ideal adhesion, a series of composite material models were developed, the adhesion being modelled by introducing contact elements along with various parts of the fibre-binder interface surface. The introduction of contact interaction only affected the ultimate strength of the material. The introduction of the progressive damage process into the model allowed obtaining results close to those of full-scale tests.