Micromechanical Models for Damping in Woven Fabric-Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a finite element model and a closed-form model for studying viscoelastic damping in woven fabric-reinforced polymer matrix composites. The finite element model was based on the actual geometric configuration of a plain weave fabric-reinforced composite unit cell, and the damping loss factors were determined from a strain energy formulation. The closed-form model was developed by first deriving an approximate elastic solution based on the mechanics of materials theory, then applying the Elastic-Viscoelastic Correspondence Principle to the elastic solution. The damping loss factors were then determined from the viscoelastic solution. Experiments were conducted using an impulse-frequency response technique to measure damping in beam samples made of plain weave E-glass fabric-reinforced vinyl ester resin matrix composite. The predictions from both analytical models show reasonably good agreement with experimental data.