ISSN: 2277-3754

ISO 9001:2008 Certified

International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology (IJEIT)
Volume 2, Issue 8, February 2013

Simulation of Loading the Polymer/Carbon

Fiber Composites and Prediction of Safety
Factors
Ing. Branislav Duleba, Ing. Frantiek Greskovic, CSc
be present. Filler surrounds and supports the reinforcement to
Abstract This contribution deals with the possibility of maintain mutual relative position. Reinforcement is adding its
simulation of complex parts made from polymer-composites with special mechanical properties in order to improve the
CAD/CAM/CAE software Solid Works. First part of contribution
mechanical properties of filler. Synergy produces mechanical
is aimed on describing the basis of fiber composites and its
behavior under load. Main reason of choosing carbon fiber as properties unattainable by individual participating materials
material for innovative parts depends on low density and high and a wide range of fillers and reinforcement allows the
tensile strength Thus carbon fiber composites are frequently used designer to select the most appropriate product mix. [1, 2]
at automotive and sporting goods production, parts from these
industries were selected. Second part of contribution describes two
different studies performed in Solid Works Simulations and
describes the stress and possible faults of models made from
carbon fiber composite.

Index Terms Composite Materials, Carbon Fiber,

Simulation of Composites, Solid Works Simulations.

I. INTRODUCTION
Carbon fiber composites, particularly those with polymeric
matrices, have become the dominant advanced composite
materials for aerospace, auto-mobile, sporting goods, and
other applications due to their high strength, high modulus,
low density, and reasonable cost. For applications requiring
high temperature resistance, as required by spacecraft, carbon
fiber carbon-matrix composites (or carbon-carbon
composites) have become dominant. As the price of carbon
fibers decreases, their applications have even broadened to
the construction industry, which uses carbon fibers to
reinforce concrete. Design of composite parts in the past
consisted of many trials, prototyping and testing, resulting in
increased production costs. With the advances of technology
and performance of personal computers came on the
analytical range of 3D CAD software to enable the design and
analysis in a virtual environment. This eliminates the tedious
and expensive, often limiting the design process: test -
mistake. Often the designer neglects the preparatory phase in
order to reduce costs and propose over equipped components,
which today is highly inappropriate.
II. COMPOSITE MATERIALS
Composite materials (composites for short, distribution
shown on Figure 1) are made simultaneously by two or more
materials with vastly different mechanical and / or chemical
properties which remain separate and are clearly observable
in macroscopic or microscopic scale inside the finished part.
There are two categories of materials involved: reinforce and
filler. At least one piece from each category must necessarily
Fig.1 Relationships Between Classes Of Engineering Materials,
Showing The Evolution Of Composites [3]
Laminates are composite materials consisting of fillers and
reinforcements in the form of fibers / fabrics. Fillers are used
as resins of different types depending on application and
desired properties. The most famous of them are polyester,
vinyl ester, epoxy, phenol formaldehyde (PF), polyimide (PI),
polyamide, polypropylene (PP), polyether ether ketone
(PEEK). They have different mechanical properties, different
terms of use, thermal expansion and resistance. As
reinforcement fabrics are used weaves cloth, twill or satin or
single-shift and bi-axial or mat with binder (powder,
emulsion). Also, also used are separate bundles of fibers
called rowing, used for longitudinal reinforcement parts and
fabrication of pressure tanks. The fibers are mostly glass,
carbon, aramid, and hybrid boron - woven to various types in
order to obtain special properties. [4]
III. ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF FIBER COMPOSITES
The simplest method of estimating the stiffness of a
composite in which all of the fibers are aligned in the direction
of the applied load (a unidirectional composite) is to assume
that the structure is a simple beam, as in Figure 2, in which the
two components are perfectly bonded together so that they
deform together. We shall ignore the possibility that the
polymer matrix can exhibit time-dependent deformation. The
elastic (Young) module of the matrix and reinforcement are
Em and Ef, respectively. We let the cross-sectional area of the

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Volume 2, Issue 8, February 2013
fibre component be Af and that of the matrix component be A good indication of the validity of the mixture rule for the
Am. If the length of the beam is L, then we can represent the longitudinal moduli of two composites of quite different kinds
quantities of the two components in terms of their volume is given in Figure 3- unidirectional composites consisting of
fractions, Vf and Vm , which is more usual, and we know that tungsten wires in Al-4%Cu alloy and glass rods in epoxy
their sum Vf + Vm = 1. The fibre volume fraction, Vf, is the resin. [10, 11]
critical material parameter for most purposes. The subscript The definition of composite material
c refers to the composite. [7, 9] When modeling using the selected model surfaces its
necessary to define the orientation of layers and composite
structures. One layer consists of unidirectional fabric and
suitable thermosetting resin. A layer of orthotropic material -
material properties depend on direction. This layer has three
main axes: the X-axis fiber direction, normal to the direction
Y (X2) and normal to the fiber Z (X3) layer (Fig. 4). As
expected, the material properties vary considerably in
different directions and must be thoroughly characterized. [5]

Fig.2 Simplified Parallel Model of A Unidirectional Composite

[4]
The load on the composite, Pc, is shared between the two
phases, so that Pc = Pf + Pm, and the strain in the two phases
is the same as that in the composite, c = f = m (ie. this is an
iso-strain condition). Since stress = load/area, we can write:
cAc = fAf + mAm (1)
and from the iso-strain condition, dividing through by the
relevant strains, we have:

Fig. 4 Laminate Layer and the Main Axis [5]

(2)
or Ec = Ef Vf + Em(1 - Vf ) (3)
This equation is referred to as the Voigt estimate, but is
more familiarly known as the rule of mixtures. It makes the
implicit assumption that the Poisson ratios of the two
components are equal (f = m), thus ignoring elastic
constraints caused by differential lateral contractions. More
sophisticated models have been developed which allow for
such effects, the most familiar being that of Hill (1964) which
shows that the true stiffness of a unidirectional composite
beam would be greater than the prediction of equation (3) by
an amount which is proportional to the square of the
difference in Poisson ratios, (f m)2, but for most practical
purposes this difference is so small as to be negligible. For
example, for high-performance reinforced plastics, m 0.35
and f 0.25, and for a fibre volume fraction, Vf, of about 0.6,
the correction needed to account for the Poisson constraints is
only about 2%.
Fig. 3 Confirmation of the Rule-Of-Mixtures Relationship for
the Young Moduli, Ec, Of [4]
Composite structures are usually composed of two or more
layers with different fiber orientation. To maintain the
optimum material properties for the application, the layer is
composed of sequences depending on the desired properties.
Laminate has a global coordinate system where the Z axis is
always normal to the surface model. Each layer is deposited
with a certain orientation, depending on the X axis. [12]
Layer properties
For complete characterization of orthotropic materials are
needed nine material constants (Young's modulus E, Poisson's
constant , shear G in all three axes X, Y, Z). To achieve these
results, it requires a large series of experiments. This method
is probably the most accurate. Another method is so-called
rule of materials ratio. If is used a layer of unidirectional
fiberglass fibers, it can be considered as transverse isotropic
fiber and isotropic resin. In this case, we can calculate the
approximate effective properties of unidirectional layers.
Defined the terms are [13]:
The proportion of fibers Vf - the total ratio of volume
of fibers in one layer laminate
The ratio of resin Vm - the total ratio of volume of resin in a
single layer laminate
If the laminate has no foreign elements, defects and
bubbles, the sum of these two units is 1. Information about the
proportion of fiber / resin can be obtained experimentally, by
weighing the dry reinforcement before impregnation. Then
the recalculation the ratio of the components according to
density can be made. If we know the volume ratio of resin and
fiber material properties can be calculated as follows:
Ex: (4)

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Ey: (5)
Ez: (6)
xy: (7)
yz: (8)
xz: (9)
Gxy: (10)

Gyz: (11)
Gxz: (12)

This set of equations allows calculating more effective
material properties of the laminate layers. This rule can only
be used for one-directional fibers. Research has shown that
the ratio of materials rule out relatively accurate analytical
results in the X axis (along the fibers). This rule is not
sufficiently accurate for lateral load (in Y axis). In our
analysis, this rule is sufficient due to the nature of the load.
The company Solid Works recommends entering minimum of
six material constants in the analysis of composites, namely:
Ex, Ey, vxy, Gxy, Gyz, Gxz. If any of these parameters is
unknown, SolidWorks Simulation applies the basic set of
values, which may affect the results, depending on load.
For complete characterization of orthotropic materials is
necessary to define the following five parameters:
Tensile strength in the X direction, Fxt ,,
Tensile strength in the direction Y, Fyt,
The compressive strength in the direction X, Fxc,
The compressive strength in the direction Y, Fyc,
Shear strength in the XY plane, Fxy. [4, 14, 15]
IV. SIMULATION OF REAR UPPER ARM FOR
STUDENT ROADSTER
Settings of composite material under Solid Works can be
found at Composite properties managerand define
everything about the model: type of laminate (sandwich,
symmetric, asymmetric), number of layers, layer thickness,
orientation layers and layers of material. In Composite
properties manager is also possibility of setting the overall
orientation of the composite. This allows rotation or reversal
of the coordination system of the composite. These settings
affect only the currently marked area of model. If the model
has various surfaces, their orientation must be set in one
direction.
For first study, the rear upper arm from trailing arm
suspension was simulated to stress conditions. Arm will be the
part of student roadster project car (Fig.5, Fig.6). For
obtaining the lowest weight and highest weight to power
ration, materials like aluminum and carbon fiber were
selected. Most of track cars or super cars have this arm made
from carbon fiber composites and it is possible to buy
universal adjustable arms from specialized producers.
Fig. 5 Model of Chassis of Prototype Roadster
Fig. 6 Detail of Rear Suspension
For studies with multiple composite shells is suitable to have
all normal surfaces oriented in one direction. In our case it
was after several experiments with different number and
thickness set to 8 layers, each 0.4 mm thick, with an
orientation to the X axis sequentially
[0/30/0/-15/15/0/-30/0]. Then was needed to enter material
properties obtained by experiment and calculation. In our
case, were used as follows:
- Elastic modulus in x = 147e9 N/m2
- Elastic modulus in y = 10.3e9 N/m2
- Elastic modulus in z = 10.3e9 N/m2
- Poissons ratio in xy = 0.27
- Poissons ratio in yz = 0.54
- Poissons ratio in xz = 0.27
- Shear modulus in xy = 7e9 N/m2
- Shear modulus in yz = 3.7e9 N/m2
- Shear modulus in xz = 7e9 N/m2
- Mass density = 1600 kg/m3
- Tensile strength in x = 2280e6 N/m2
- Tensile strength in y = 57e6 N/m2
- Compressive strength in x = 1725e6 N/m2
- Compressive strength in y = 228e6 N/m2
- Shear strength in xy = 76e6 N/m2
Simulation with load 1450N calculated in study before
showed, that maximum von Misses stress was calculated to
value 221106352N/m2, while Yield strength of selected
composite is only 95000000 N/m2. Allocation of stress is
showed on Fig. 8, where red areas are possible failures of
material.

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Simulation showed that it is not possible to manufacture
foolproof top arm form selected material. Next study can be
considered on changing the construction of fork and arm, or
on changing the material, or both. Best way now is to
manufacture this part from light alloys, but the weight with
use of aluminum will rise more than third compared to its
composite model. Although simulation was necessary and
advisable, because it showed possible failures which were
discovered before the manufacturing and testing this
component in real conditions.

V. ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE HANDLEBARS

Fig. 7 Mesh, Clamping And Loading Forces
Fig. 8 Displacement of von Misses stress
Maximum deflection URES was calculated to 4.979mm,
showed on Fig. 9. Equivalent strain ESTRN was calculated to
value 2.439e-3 and illustrated on Fig. 10.
MODEL
For this test oversize handlebars for enduro mountain bike
were proposed. For FEA analysis model, we first need to
define the material - either choose a suitable material from
library or define own. Material is defined in Composite
properties manager-each layer can be defined and for each
layer can be used another material. In our case we used the
same material for all layers. As the handlebars are firmly
attached by locked connection to bicycle stem, this gripping is
needed to simulate. From the menu, select the Fixed
Geometry Connections - the component has mountings in 0
degrees of freedom. In the editor, mark the mounting surface
where the model is fixed. Representation of a firm grip model
is displayed on Fig.11.

Fig. 11 Representation of a Firm Grip Model

Fig. 9 Displacement of URES
Definition of external load
Our goal is to simulate the load generated by the impact on
the handlebars of a rider at jump. Considering a rider
weighing of 85 kg, including clothing, bike weight 15 kg and a
jump from a height of 3m with negligible drive away called
trial jump." At impact rider has speed:
(13)
The rider has kinetic energy at impact:

(14)

The impact is suspended by front fork with 150 mm stroke

and hands of rider at the distance 0.5 m with a total system
stiffness and damping k = 7883.416 Nm-1.
The stopping distance is therefore:
Fig. 10 Displacement of ESTRN

(15)

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The force that occurs by the impact is unevenly distributed in Tsai-Wu failure criterion - also called interactive tensor
the ratio 40:60 on hands Fh and foots Ff of rider and it is polynome theory - is similar to the Tsai-Hill, but with
defined by equation: more emphasis into accounts the difference in tensile
stress and pressure. It is therefore best suited for
materials with different tensile strength and pressure.
(16)
Generally, for laminates with a dominant proportion of
At handlebars thus effects the force: fibers all three failure criteria can give reasonable results. For
(17) laminates with a dominant ratio of resin has to be
In External Loads menu is selected the force, and the area distinguished the tensile stress and pressure?
where the force is applied to the model- Fig.12.

Fig. 12 Illustration of Point Of Application and Direction of Fig. 13 The resultant maximum stress
Forces
Creating the mesh
At FEA model analysis is necessary to divide a finite
number of elements. For this purpose, mesh is created, the
size and type of elements in Mesh parameters menu is
consequently defined. In our case we chose the maximum
element size of 4.1 mm and 1.39 mm minimum. From mesh
density depends time of its formation and also the calculation
time of analysis. Mesh control is used to refine the grid only
on critical sections, where we expect the greatest tension-
Fig.8. This procedure is much more effective than applying
fine mesh for whole model.
The criterion of failure
Failure criterion is defined by a factor of safety. Safety
Fig. 14 the Total Deflection of Handlebars Loaded With
factor should be larger than 1. There are three different failure Force 1256N
criteria for composites: Render the results are in a distorted state in real mesh. In
The criterion of maximum stress - this theory is our case came shear far below the permitted stress. The total
characterized by a failure if the stress in one of the main maximum stress was 386.5 MPa displayed as yellow area on
directions of the material is greater than the strength of Fig.13. The minimum deflection was in the stem clamp of
the material in a given direction. This theory does not value 0 mm (blue area in Fig. 14). The maximum deflection
reflect the tension between the different components. was at the edge of the handlebar in the red field of value 6.126
Maximum stress criterion is suitable for fiber composite mm. Safety factor was defined using the Tsai-Wu Criterion as
models which are primarily loaded in tension. it best suited for materials with different tensile and pressure.
Tsai-Hill failure criterion - also called energy method - It is also advisable to try different failure criteria and compare
using Von Mises theory and apply them to orthotropy their results. When the safety factor is greater than 1 the
composites. This theory takes into account the tension model is safe. For certain components such as this, engineers
between the different components and distinguishes tend to be close to the value of the safety coefficient 1, which
between tension and pressure, making it suitable for means less weight of construction. In our case came a safety
materials with equal tensile strength and pressure. factor to 1.22 (Fig. 15), which means the handlebars exceeded
Typically, this method is used for models whose fibers the safety criterion of 1 with a competitive weight 205.71 g.
are primarily stressed on pressure. Compared with aluminum handlebars with the same

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dimensions, the weight is 313 grams. Weight savings in our
case is up to 34%.
Fig. 15 Results of the Safety Factor According To Tsai-Wu
Criterion
Test model was manufactured to prove the possibility of
making the handlebars from carbon fibre composite. As the
material for making the test model woven carbon cloth (180
grams per square meter) was chosen as fabric, MGS's L285
epoxy resin and 285 hardener for laminating and Styrofoam
to make the core. After tracing the main dimensions reduced
at diameter by 30% rough model was cut and sanded to
required quality.
Fig.16 Excess Resin after Wrapping
The pieces of carbon fiber were wetted out and then added
the first layer on the foam core. While the first layer was still
wet, the model was wrapped over the first layer of carbon
tightly with electrical tape with sticky side up to provide
compaction during curing. Before wrapping, the tape was
perforated with a pin over the whole surface. This squeezed
out excess resin after wrapping displayed on Fig. 16.
Approximately 20 minutes after first layer had been done, the
tape was removed lightly and another layer was added, and
again wrapped over with perforated tape. After drying up
resin (24 hours at 23OC), the excess carbon was cut and I
sanded the entire surface. Few thin layers of wet epoxy were
added, with sanding between each layer. Finished bars are on
Fig. 17. The whole surface was polished for a better look.
Finished handlebars were heavier by 34grams than the
calculated ones. That could be explained because of
additional layers of resin at the surface added for deeper
reflection. The bars fit directly to bikes stem and woks as well.
After few rides there are only some small cracks at the ends of
the bars due to one crash.
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Fig. 17 Finished Handlebars
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper describes the possibilities of use of carbon fiber
composite in wide range of application. Carbon fiber
composites, particularly those with polymeric matrices, have
become the dominant advanced composite material for many
industries due to their high strength and low density. First
tested model was design of rear upper arm from complex
model of roadster, made with cooperation with students. This
study shows, that use of normal carbon fibre composite at this
part is not advisable, because possible faults of material can
occur at area connected to bushings and chassis. As the goal
of this whole study was to make the chassis as light as
possible, simulation shows that there is the need of changing
the material of composite or apply more layers of composite.
As second tested model bikes handlebars were chosen and
calculation for trial jump form 3 meters were performed.
After calculations of loads and forces, the simulation in
software Solid Works was performed. With applied
calculated force of 1256N the maximum deflection was at the
edge of the handlebar of value 6.126 mm. Safety factor was
defined using the Tsai-Wu Criterion and in our case came a
safety factor to 1.22, which means the handlebars exceeded
the safety criterion of 1. At the end of paper the technique of
production of test model was described. Technique called
core wrapping was used, where the core made of Styrofoam
was wrapped by layers of carbon fiber and epoxy resin.
Manufactured part weight 239 grams, what is more than the
calculated part, but much less than the original part.
Compared with aluminum handlebars with the same
dimensions, the weight is 313 grams. Weight savings in our
case is up to 34% compared to simulation.
VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This paper is the result of the project implementation:
PIRSES-GA-2010-269177 supported by The international
project realized in range of Seventh Frame Programme of
European Union (FP7), Marie Curie Actions, PEOPLE, and
International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES).
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 ISSN: 2277-3754
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International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology (IJEIT)
Volume 2, Issue 8, February 2013
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AUTHORS PROFILES
Branislav Duleba is PhD candidate at the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering, Technical University of Kosice, Slovakia. He received his Ing.
Title in Plastics processing specialization in 2010. He is author of more than
25 scientific publications over last 2 years. His research interests include
Polymer composites and nanocomposites, Computer simulations and
Plastics processing.

Frantisek Greskovic is professor at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,

Department of technologies and materials and Vice-Dean responsible for
study in II.nd and III.rd degree and Informatics at Technical University of
Kosice, Slovakia. He is author of more than 190 scientific publications and
several international patents. His research is oriented on Engineering
technologies and materials.

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