Modeling of moisture diffusion in the presence of bi-axial damage in polymer matrix composite laminates (Q5948613)

The authors describe a modeling of diffusion in the presence of bi-axial damage in polymer matrix composite laminates. This model allows to predict non-Fickian diffusion coefficients and moisture saturation level from moisture weight gain data for laminates with pre-existing and non-evolving damage. The authors incorporate a symmetric damage tensor based on continuum mechanics approach by invoking the principle of invariance with respect to coordinate transformations. For the sake of tractability, the diffusion equations are simplified for the special case of laminate with bi-axially oriented matrix cracks that is subjected to uniaxial stress. The final equations obtained from this derivation indicate that both effective diffusivity and maximum saturation level for this particular case can be expressed as quadratic functions of crack density. The analytical result are verified by comparison with test data of graphite epoxy composites.