{"title":"Curved grid connector for concrete sandwich shell: a continuum approach","authors":"Jiaxu Shi , Mostafa Yossef , An Chen , Jing Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119361","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119361","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Grid connector has been widely used for insulated concrete sandwich panel (ICSP). This paper proposes an innovative curved grid connector for concrete sandwich shell and derives an analytical model using a continuum approach. Firstly, the curved grid is homogenized into a fan-shaped continuum and an equivalent stiffness matrix <span><math><msup><mrow><mrow><mi>C</mi></mrow></mrow><mi>H</mi></msup></math></span> is obtained, reflecting the constitutive relations of the curved grid in macroscale. Next, the expression of the circumference shear stiffness of the curved grid is derived and verified by Finite Element (FE) models. It can be found that the curved grid connectors have the characteristics of trigonometrically distributed shear stiffness <span><math><mrow><mi>k</mi><mfenced><mrow><mi>φ</mi></mrow></mfenced></mrow></math></span> along the circumferential direction <span><math><mi>φ</mi></math></span>. According to the parametric study, the maximum shear stiffness is at the vertex angle of grid members <span><math><mrow><mi>β</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>π</mi><mo>/</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow></math></span>, while <span><math><mrow><mi>k</mi><mfenced><mrow><mi>φ</mi></mrow></mfenced></mrow></math></span> becomes constant at <span><math><mrow><mi>β</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>π</mi><mo>/</mo><mn>4</mn></mrow></math></span> and <span><math><mrow><mi>β</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>3</mn><mi>π</mi><mo>/</mo><mn>4</mn></mrow></math></span>. Additionally, denser arrangement and smaller cross-section of the grid members result in higher stiffness for the same number of connectors. Finally, the bending test of the sandwich shell with a grid connector is presented. The good correlation between the test and analytical results demonstrates the feasibility of applying the analytical model to sandwich shells. The method presented in this paper can be employed for structural optimization and design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119361"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144291280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrea Pagliaro, Oliviero Giannini, Riccardo Panciroli
{"title":"On the effect of the load ratio on the bending fatigue of flax-fiber composites","authors":"Andrea Pagliaro, Oliviero Giannini, Riccardo Panciroli","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119323","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119323","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fatigue, a time-dependent degradation process caused by repeated mechanical loading, is one of the most critical factors affecting the durability and reliability of composite materials. While extensive research has been conducted on the fatigue performance of synthetic fiber composites, such as carbon and glass fiber-reinforced composites, studies on the fatigue behavior of natural fiber composites, including flax-reinforced polymers, remain limited. This gap is particularly notable when considering the effects of different load ratios and cyclic loading conditions, which significantly influence the fatigue performance of composites. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the fatigue behavior of unidirectional flax fiber-reinforced epoxy composites through systematic experimental investigations. The study focuses on fatigue testing at various stress ratios (R = −1, R = 0.1, and R = −0.1) to explore the effects of different loading conditions on the material’s response. The chosen stress ratios represent full reverse bending, pulsating with no stress reversal, and pulsating with partial stress reversal, respectively, allowing for a detailed comparison of the fatigue mechanisms across diverse loading scenarios. The research presented here evaluates not only the fatigue life but also the evolution of key parameters such as the apparent elastic modulus, energy dissipation, and viscoelastic behavior throughout the fatigue life of the specimens. A notable contribution of this work is the analysis of how the apparent elastic modulus and energy dissipation evolve over the fatigue life, shedding light on the interplay between viscoelastic effects, creep, and fatigue damage under different load ratios. Additionally, the study highlights the relationship between the applied peak load and the material’s nonlinear behavior, offering insights into how fatigue life and mechanical recovery mechanisms influence the long-term performance of flax composites.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119323"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144262715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Guided wave-based online monitoring of lightning strike events on the aircraft composite structures","authors":"Jian Cai , Jiawen Ji , Shangchen Fu , Lihua Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119360","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119360","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The importance of lightning strike monitoring (LSM) for aircraft composite structures has been progressively recognized. However, due to the drastic damage process and harsh electromagnetic environment of lightning strikes, LSM, especially the fundamental but critical task of lightning attachment-point localization remains a challenge. A guided wave-based LSM method of composite structures is presented to overcome the challenge. In the method, the lightning strike-induced guided wave responses, capable of long-distance propagation through struck composites even under the strict electromagnetic condition, are online collected with in-situ piezoelectric (PZT) wafers and then applied to image the attachment points over the monitored structures. After the direct effects of lightning strikes on composites are analyzed, the piezoelectric online sensing of guided wave responses with PZT wafers is explored, during which the electromagnetic protection and short-circuiting preservation are particularly considered to deal with the extreme lightning strike condition. Furthermore, associated with the delay-and-sum algorithm, the guided wave imaging method of lightning strike events is developed for attachment point localization on composite structures. Finally, the efficiency of guided wave online sensing and imaging of lightning strike events is fully verified by the artificial lightning strike tests on the typical anisotropic carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite plates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119360"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144241117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhangwen Wang , Guodong Fang , Xiangyu Jin , Bing Wang , Songhe Meng
{"title":"Oxidation damage and residual mechanical properties analysis for Cf/ZrB2-SiC composites in thermo-oxygen environment","authors":"Zhangwen Wang , Guodong Fang , Xiangyu Jin , Bing Wang , Songhe Meng","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119358","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119358","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A diffusion–reaction damage methodology solved by finite element (FE) scheme is established to simulate the microscale oxidation behavior of carbon fiber toughened ultra-high temperature ceramic (C<sub>f</sub>/ZrB<sub>2</sub>-SiC) composites in high-temperature oxidation environment. The model is derived from the governing equations of mass conservation and diffusion–reaction kinetics theory, which are coupled by introducing effective diffusion coefficients and reaction terms. The apparent kinetic parameters are obtained from dynamic thermal analysis, which provide reliable data to simulate the reactive differences between the coating and the fiber. The oxidation weight loss of carbon fiber and oxidation damage of C<sub>f</sub>/ZrB<sub>2</sub>-SiC composites induced by matrix crack are taken into account in this model. The oxidation damage evolution is quantitatively described as a function of temperature, oxygen concentration and stress. The sensitivity of the oxidation controlling factors is analyzed comprehensively. The residual modulus of C<sub>f</sub>/ZrB<sub>2</sub>-SiC composites under different oxidation conditions is further predicted using the oxidation model combining with shear-lag model. This study can be helpful of improving the C<sub>f</sub>/ZrB<sub>2</sub>-SiC composites oxidation resistance design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119358"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144262716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deterministic and stochastic analysis of a three phase piezoelectric composite using the coupled PIM-VAM based homogenization framework","authors":"Pandi Pitchai , P.J. Guruprasad","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119312","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119312","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents a computational framework that integrates the Variational Asymptotic Method (VAM) with the Point Interpolation Method to evaluate the global and local field properties of inclusion-coated three-phase piezoelectric composites. Validated against the Mori–Tanaka method and the Uniform Micro-mechanical Approach, the framework demonstrates good agreement and is extended to assess the impact of increasing relative coating thickness on electromechanical performance. Results indicate significant improvements in coupled piezoelectric and dielectric properties with greater coating thickness, particularly when the fiber volume fraction exceeds 30%, in both the transverse and polarization directions. While the inclusion shape has a negligible effect along the poling axis, it induces noticeable variations in the transverse direction due to localized anisotropic coupling, especially for sharp-edged inclusion shapes. Although some enhancement is observed in the transverse direction, the electromechanical response remains primarily governed by polarization along the poling axis, which becomes more dominant at higher fiber volume fractions. Additionally, integrating VAM with a Stochastic Reduced Order Model enables microstructural uncertainty analysis, showing that higher fiber volume fractions significantly increase variance in stochastic response variables. A related study shows greater variance in the transverse direction for sharp-edged inclusions, while the longitudinal direction remains consistent across all inclusion shapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119312"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144241557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A review of fiber-scale modeling for composite preforms","authors":"Jing Fang, Li Chen , Junbo Xie, Jingjing Wang, Wei Jiao","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119362","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119362","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Realistic geometric models of fiber structures are essential for numerical analysis of textile reinforced composites. Micro-structures of textiles are however often complex due to the contact interactions of the fibers and yarns. Textiles are prone to deform during the forming process for their flexible property, which further increases the difficulty of fiber structure modeling. High fidelity and efficiency modeling of the textiles still remains some challenges. Commonly used geometric modeling methods stay at the research on the meso-scale, or yarn level. The fiber-scale modeling method has been developed rapidly in recent years, which is able to generate geometric models very close to the actual textiles. Problems of forming and deformation simulations are also solved by fiber-scale modeling method. This paper gives an overview of the literatures dedicated to the fiber-scale modeling of textiles. Formulations of fiber-scale strategy are introduced, based on which these models are divided into two categories: the digital element approach and the virtual fiber method. Applications of fiber-scale models are summarized, advantage and disadvantage of the existing modeling methods are discussed. Latest developments of fiber-scale modeling technology for improving the modeling accuracy and efficiency are presented.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119362"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144255047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effect of hybridization of continuous and discontinuous tape composites on stiffness and strength: A computational analysis","authors":"Deniz Ezgi Gulmez, Sergio Turteltaub","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119313","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119313","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Numerical investigations were conducted to explore the mechanical response of hybrid layered continuous–discontinuous tape composites focusing on damage initiation and ultimate strength under both tensile and bending loads. These composites combine layers of continuous unidirectional tapes with layers of randomly oriented short (discontinuous) tapes. A series of laminated specimens was analyzed, representing various strategies to create hybrid combinations as well as the limit cases of pure continuous and pure discontinuous tapes. The hybrid architectures consist of different stacking sequences and varying ratios of continuous and discontinuous plies. Detailed mesoscale simulations were performed utilizing a finite element model that explicitly incorporates the ply-level arrangements of both continuous and discontinuous plies. By means of numerical homogenization, the effective elastic stiffness and strength of each configuration were determined, enabling the establishment of scaling laws for these properties with respect to spatial variability and the ratio of continuous to discontinuous tape content. These findings serve as a roadmap for optimizing the blend of these two types of tape to meet specific mechanical performance targets, thereby advancing the development of more sustainable and high-performing composites.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119313"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144241559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Damage growth in multiphase composites subjected to thermo-mechanical fatigue loading based on phase field method","authors":"Sarnath Thoudam , Sundararajan Natarajan , Anand Krishna Kanjarla , Ratna Kumar Annabattula","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119273","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119273","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Engineered materials such as particle composites, due to their intricate internal structure exhibit complex damage profiles. In this work, we employ the phase field method to numerically study the damage initiation and subsequent propagation in particle composites when subjected to mechanical and combined thermo-mechanical cyclic loading. The framework is implemented in Abaqus using user elements. Two different types of particles are considered, viz., stiff and compliant particles. The influence of mean load, elastic mismatch ratio and fracture toughness between the constituent materials are systematically investigated under thermo-mechanical cyclic loads. From the numerical study, it is inferred that: (a) the number of crack nucleation sites are directly linked to the reduction in the stiffness of the complaint phase and (b) damage is more pronounced in the case of a symmetrically inverting cycle. Furthermore, under thermal cycling, the stiff phase attracts the crack when the particles have higher thermal expansion compared to the matrix.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119273"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144271194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Variable-fidelity optimization method with dynamic search space reduction for variable stiffness composite cylinders","authors":"Kuo Tian, Zhiyong Sun, Tianhe Gao, Chong Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119355","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119355","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Incorporating multiple manufacturing constraints leads to a highly nonlinear and non-convex feasible design space for variable stiffness composite (VSC) cylinders, significantly increasing the difficulty and computational cost associated with achieving optimization design. To enhance the global optimization capability within this complex constrained design space, a novel variable-fidelity surrogate model with dynamic search space reduction (VFSM-DSSR) is introduced in this paper. Firstly, a mathematical description method of multiple manufacturing constraints is presented for VSC cylinders to ensure the manufacturability of fibers, establishing the constraint conditions for subsequent optimization. Particularly, the fiber path divergence formula for cylindrical structures is derived for the first time. Furthermore, an optimization framework based on VFSM-DSSR is established consisting of a two-stage search space reduction strategy. In the first stage, a pre-screening of search space is carried out using the Fuzzy C-means Clustering algorithm and a low-fidelity surrogate model. This allows for a rapid identification of the high-potential search space while considering multiple constraints. Subsequently, in the second stage, a local high-precision VFSM is constructed within the initial reduced search space. Then, a dynamic search space reduction strategy is introduced through search space shifting and scaling, which helps avoid falling in local optima and enhance the global optimization capability. Finally, to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, an optimization example of a VSC cylinder under multiple manufacturing constraints is conducted. Results indicate that with comparable computational cost, the VFSM-DSSR method achieves a significant improvement in the buckling load of the VSC cylinder. Specifically, it outperforms the direct surrogate-based optimal result within the original design space by over 22.22%.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119355"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144241558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"3D CDM for interfacial friction quantization and its effects on load-slip behavior of stud-UHPC connection","authors":"Xuhui Zhang , Long Cheng , Fu Xu , Lei Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119352","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119352","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Three-dimensional (3D) compression-dispersion model (CDM) for interfacial friction quantization and its effects on load-slip behavior of stud-UHPC connection are studied in the present paper. Firstly, an 3D CDM is proposed to quantify the positive effects of interfacial friction force on shear behavior of stud-UHPC connection. Then, a triple stage load-slip model is proposed for stud-UHPC connection considering the effects of interfacial friction force. The accuracy of the proposed models is verified by published data from push-out test. The advantages of the proposed 3D CDM for interfacial friction quantization are discussed and the effects of interface friction force on load-slip behavior of stud-UHPC connection are clarified. Results show that the proposed 3D CDM based model can predict accurately the distribution of interfacial friction stress in two directions while the 2D CDM based model can only reveal the distribution of the interfacial friction stress in one direction. Interfacial friction force increases about 12% of the shear stiffness, the yielding and the peak loads of stud-UHPC connection. The elastic stiffness of stud-UHPC connection increases with stud diameter, UHPC strength and interfacial friction force, which is most sensitive to stud diameter, followed by UHPC strength and interfacial friction force.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":281,"journal":{"name":"Composite Structures","volume":"370 ","pages":"Article 119352"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144241116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}