Earlier this year, my group published a new technique for illustrating the development of damage as a function of both space and time in materials during testing in a laboratory.  The information is presented in a damage-time map and shows where and when damage appears in the material.  The maps are based on the concept that damage represents a change in the structure of the material and, hence, produces changes in the load paths or stress distribution in the material.  We can use any of a number of optical techniques to measure strain, which is directly related to stress, across the surface of the material; and then look for changes in the strain distribution in real-time.  Wherever a permanent change is seen to occur there must also be permanent deformation or damage. We use image decomposition techniques that we developed some time ago [see ‘Recognizing strain‘ on October 28th, 2018], to identify the changes. Our damage-time maps remove the need for skilled operators to spend large amounts of time reviewing data and making subjective decisions.  They also allow a large amount of information to be presented in a single image which makes detailed comparisons with computer predictions easier and more readily quantifiable that, in turn, supports the validation of computational models [see ‘Model validation‘ on September 18th, 2012].

The structural integrity of composite materials is an on-going area of research because we only have a limited understanding of these materials.  It is easy to design structures using materials that have a uniform or homogeneous structure and mechanical properties which do not vary with orientation, i.e. isotropic properties.  For simple components, an engineer can predict the stresses and likely failure modes using the laws of physics, a pencil and paper plus perhaps a calculator.  However, when materials contain fibres embedded in a matrix, such as carbon-fibres in an epoxy resin, then the analysis of structural behaviour becomes much more difficult due to the interaction between the fibres and with the matrix.  Of course, these interactions are also what make these composite materials interesting because they allow less material to be used to achieve the same performance as homogeneous isotropic materials.  There are very many ways of arranging fibres in a matrix as well as many different types of fibres and matrix; and, engineers do not understand most of their interactions nor the mechanisms that lead to failure.

The image shows, on the left, the maximum principal strain in a composite specimen loaded longitudinally in tension to just before failure; and, on the right, the corresponding damage-time map indicating when and where damage developing during the tension loading.

Source:

Christian WJR, Dvurecenska K, Amjad K, Pierce J, Przybyla C & Patterson EA, Real-time quantification of damage in structural materials during mechanical testing, Royal Society Open Science, 7:191407, 2020.