Experimental analysis and numerical simulation of the effect of opening hole behavior after hygrothermal aging on the compression properties of laminates

Abstract Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are widely used in aeronautical and engineering fields because of their excellent mechanical properties and lower manufacturing costs. Among them, resin–matrix composite material is one of the widely used material types. In this study, the effect of the opening behavior of composite laminates under different hygrothermal aging conditions on their compression properties was studied. At the same time, the finite-element analysis method is used to numerically simulate the hygrothermal aging process and compression experiment. It is found that the hygroscopic behavior in the hygrothermal aging process is compounded by Fick’s second law. After the compression experiment, it is further found that aging time is the main reason affecting the mechanical properties of materials. At the same time, the failure caused by compression behavior mainly occurs laterally along the opening until brittle failure occurs.