Progressive damage evolution analysis of continuous CF/PEEK composites

Abstract In this paper, a material damage model is established using the UMAT subroutine in ABAQUS. The failure process of the composite material under tensile loading is simulated through a microscopic-scale Representative Volume Element (RVE), and the influence of different fiber radii on the damage behavior of the composite material is explored. The analysis of the stress-strain curves shows that the tensile strength and ductility of the composite material significantly improve with increasing fiber radius, with larger fiber radii contributing to enhanced overall load-bearing capacity. Based on the stress distribution contour maps for different fiber radii, it is observed that when the fiber radius is small, stress concentration occurs at the fiber-matrix interface, leading to local damage and interface delamination. However, as the fiber radius increases, the stress distribution becomes more uniform, indicating that larger fiber radii can effectively distribute the load. Therefore, the damage model established in this paper can effectively predict the stress-strain response and progressive failure characteristics of the material under tensile loading.