Coupling of damage mechanics and probabilistic approach for life-time prediction of composite material structures

We propose a damage model with a probabilistic approach for laminates made of unidirectional fibre reinforced plies. Statistical information is collected through multiple cracking tests. The defects are considered as transverse matrix cracks and we study them by examining , and laminates. Parameters of a cumulative distribution function of the failure strength are determined. Probabilistic parameters of the cumulative distribution are chosen to be independent of the ply thickness and multiaxial loading to have intrinsic values for describing the ply. Probabilistic parameters found previously are introduced into a finite element computation of laminates using a Statistical Volume Element (SVE). As experimental results, numerical ones present a dispersion of the failure stress.