For the safety assurance of the composites and simulations for
Probabilistic Finite-Element Analysis prediction of the failure under impact, it is important to incorporate
of S2-Glass Epoxy Composite Beams
for Damage Initiation Due to
High-Velocity Impact
Shivdayal Patel1
Department of Applied Mechanics,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,
New Delhi 110016, India
e-mail: shiv_dayal_patel@live.com
Suhail Ahmad
Department of Applied Mechanics,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,
New Delhi 110016, India
Puneet Mahajan
Department of Applied Mechanics,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,
New Delhi 110016, India
The safety predictions of composite armors require a probabilistic
analysis to take into consideration scatters in the material proper-
ties and initial velocity. Damage initiation laws are used to account
for matrix and fiber failure during high-velocity impact. A three-
dimensional (3D) stochastic finite-element analysis of laminated
composite plates under impact is performed to determine the prob-
ability of failure (Pf). The objective is to achieve the safest design of
lightweight composite through the most efficient ply arrangement
of S2 glass epoxy. Realistic damage initiation models are imple-
mented. The Pf is obtained through the Gaussian process response
surface method (GPRSM). The antisymmetric cross-ply arrange-
ment is found to be the safest based on maximum stress and Yen
and Hashin criteria simultaneously. Sensitivity analysis is per-
formed to achieve the target reliability. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4033575]
Keywords: impact, computational reliability method, reliability-
based design, safety, structural reliability
1 Introduction
Fiber-reinforced composite materials are generally used in a
wide range of applications such as military, aerospace, automobiles,
and body armors due to their excellent mechanical properties such
as high specific strength, specific stiffness, and resistance to corro-
sion. The high-velocity impact of composites has been widely stud-
ied as it leads to damage in the composite. Abrate [1] provided a
review that outlined the literature related to impact response of com-
posites, damage mechanisms in composites during high-velocity
impact, and their effect on response and the residual properties of
the composite after impact. The numerical progressive damage and
failure model of the laminated S2-glass composite plate was devel-
oped by Yen [2]. In the model, failure initiation and propagation
laws were introduced to account for the fiber and matrix failure
modes. The numerical model provided an estimate for the limit per-
foration velocity and simulated failure modes and damage. The fiber
failure initiation was modeled using a modified form of Hashin cri-
terion [3] and included the effects of normal stress in the direction of
fiber (σ11 ) and transverse shear stress (τ 13 ).
1
Corresponding author.
Manuscript received September 30, 2015; final manuscript received May 5, 2016;
published online August 19, 2016. Assoc. Editor: Ioannis Kougioumtzoglou.
ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems
Part B: Mechanical Engineering
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uncertainties associated with material properties. The uncertainties
in composites arise due to the randomness in quantities such as
volume fractions of matrix and fiber, excess amount of resins in
the plies, and volume of voids and porosity in the matrix. Sriramula
and Chyssanthopoulos [4] reviewed the uncertainties in fiber-
reinforced plastic composites and summarized different stochastic
modeling approaches. It was considered that the uncertainties arise
at the constitutional level, ply level, or at a component level. Some
authors (e.g., Cederbaum et al. [5] and Bucher and Bourgund [6])
studied the reliability of composites only under static loads consid-
ering different reliability methods such as a first-order reliability
method, second-order reliability method, and response surface
method. However, these methods failed to estimate the Pf accurately
in problems with highly nonlinear limit-state functions and in prob-
lems with low Pf (Rajashekhar and Ellingwood [7]), as higher-order
terms are neglected. Simulation approaches, such as Monte Carlo
simulation (MCS), require a large number of FE executions for
structural analysis making it computationally expensive, especially
for large and complex structures aiming at a high target of reliability
(Patel et al. [8]). GPRSM is able to overcome these limitations and
leads to a more efficient estimation of Pf (Bichon et al. [9]).
The paper presents a novel design approach for a lightweight
composite required to be strong enough to sustain high-velocity im-
pact due to bullet-type projectiles. Fabrication of such lightweight
composites is a challenging task. Presently, a huge difference is
observed in probabilities of failure among the four different arrange-
ments of ply layups. The methodology presented can achieve a
lightweight composite design using a realistic approach. The com-
parative study of Pf is carried out based on probable limit-state func-
tions. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis presented here is an
efficient design tool for optimization of light-weight composite
armor material.
2 Stochastic Finite-Element Analyses of Composite
Beams
Probabilistic response assessment is strongly recommended by
various international codes of practice, especially to achieve chal-
lenging design targets for satisfactory service and survival. It is
because the deterministic approach does not account for the natural
scatter in the input data and does not quantify the exact Pf. The
probabilistic approach, on the other hand, explicitly quantifies
the extent of safety or Pf. Many a time, design standards recom-
mend a threshold of target reliability for satisfactory design (target
reliability 10−3 to 10−5 (Goh et al. [10])). Hence, the probabilistic
approach is all the more essential to assess the true safety margin of
composite.
Pf under impact is obtained at the most severely affected location
of damage initiation. It truly accounts for the variability of material
properties (elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, shear modulus, and
strength properties) and initial velocity. Discretization of material
properties of random nature is modeled using the Latin hypercube
sampling technique (Bichon et al. [9]). The random variation in
material properties and initial velocity of impact are used in stochas-
tic finite-element method (SFEM) to determine the statistics of
stresses in the lamina under impact. The stresses or strains and the
random strengths in terms of their statistical characteristics and
distribution are substituted in the limit-state function to identify the
failure surface region gðxÞ < 0. This multidimensional failure do-
main is a measure of the Pf for each ply. Reliability assessment code
interfacing with ABAQUS is used in stochastic fashion.
2.1 Modeling of Uncertainties and Stiffness Matrix. Global
stiffness matrix K for SFEM is obtained after assembling the
elemental stiffness matrices as
DECEMBER 2016, Vol. 2 / 044504-1
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 Z
Table 1 Pf for different criteria and ply arrangements (SS beam)
Ke ¼ BT · Cðx; θÞ · BdV ð1Þ
V
Maximum Yen Hashin
Here, B is the strain–displacement matrix, Cðx; θÞ is the approxi- stress failure failure
mated elasticity matrix, and V represents the volume of the element. Cases Ply layups arrangements failure (Pf) (Pf) (Pf)
If material properties are represented by Gaussian fields, the elas- I Symmetric cross-ply 0.00 0.04790 0.0815
ticity matrix at x can be given as II Antisymmetric cross-ply 0.00 0.00004 0.0090
III Symmetric angle-ply 0.00 0.00460 0.0803
Cðx; θÞ ¼ C0 ð1 þ wðx; θÞÞ ð2Þ IV Antisymmetric angle-ply 0.00 0.00190 0.0341

C0 denotes the mean values of elasticity matrix that represents a

random field of elastic constants E1 , E2 , E3 , V 12 , V 23 , V 13 , G12 ,
G23 , and G13 ; wðx; θÞ represents the approximate random field mod-
eled as per hypercube sampling technique.

3 Numerical Study of Composite Beam Under

Impact
Impact on a composite beam of size 254 mm × 25.4 mm ×
6.35 mm made up of 24 layers of S2 glass-epoxy is simulated using
finite-element method. Four  different  ply layups are studied, namely,
(a)
 ° symmetric cross-ply 0 °
3 =90 °
3 2s, (b) antisymmetric cross-ply
03 =90°3 =0°3 =90°3 =0°3 =90°3 =0°3 =90°3 , (c) symmetric angle-ply ½45°3 =
−45°3 2s , and (d) antisymmetric angle-ply ½45°3 = − 45°3 =45°3 = − 45°3 =
45°3 = − 45°3 =45°3 = − 45°3 . An optimum layup among these arrange-
ments will be decided using the Pf. Each ply of the laminate is
assumed to be transversely isotropic. The stress–strain relation be-
tween normal stress and normal strain is assumed to be linear elastic.
The failure initiation in the plies due to tensile and compressive fiber
failure, compressive fiber failure through the thickness, and matrix
failure are modeled using a strain-based criterion given by Yen [2].
The above ideas are implemented in ABAQUS using a user-defined
subroutine VUMAT.
The composite beam and impactor are meshed with eight-node
brick elements. Full integration is used to avoid inaccuracies due to
hourglassing. The impactor is made of copper and its dimensions
are taken from Sevkat et al. [11]. The material behavior of the
impactor is governed by Johnson–Cook plastic hardening model.
Cohesive surfaces based on traction and separation law are em-
ployed to simulate and predict the damage due to delamination.
Experimental values and the respective statistical properties of glass
epoxy are taken from Refs. [11,12].
4 Probability of Fiber Failure
The efficiencies of MCS and GPRSM are compared to estimate
the Pf. The GPRSM is found to be computationally less expensive
than the MCS.
For the entire ply arrangements, Pfs are obtained for simply sup-
ported composite beam, and it is found that the Pf for the 22nd ply
in the antisymmetric cross-ply laminate arrangement is minimal in
comparison to that for symmetric cross-ply, symmetric angle-ply,
and antisymmetric angle-ply. However, it is not in an acceptable
range as per the recommended target for stochastic design. Hence,
in order to obtain the target Pf, more severely affected plies (23rd
and 24th) are examined and acceptable target reliability is achieved.
4.1 Comparative Study of Pf for Different Limit-State
Functions. The probability of fiber failure for the bottommost
ply predicted by maximum stress and Yen’s and Hashin’s criteria
for different ply layups and impactor velocity of 120 m=s are shown
in Table 1. It is observed that the Pf for the maximum stress criterion
is not significant. It is mainly because the fiber stress is far less than
the permissible value of fiber strength. Hence, the fiber failure
occurs mainly through the in-plane shear stresses (τ 12 ) and (τ 13 ).
Hashin’s failure criteria involve the direct stress and both the shear
stresses τ 12 and τ 13 , while Yen’s criterion does not use shear stress
τ 12 . The Pf obtained by the two methods also differs appreciably
Fig. 1 Probability of failure of simply supported
composite beam
(94–99%), indicating the effect of shear stress τ 12 in prediction
of Pf.
Stochastic failure assessment based on Yen’s and Hashins’
failure criteria is hence made.
As discussed above, the first 22 plies have failed out of 24 as per
the fiber failure criteria. Hence, the Pf for the bottommost ply is now
obtained for various ply arrangements and failure models as shown
in Fig. 1. The Pf for the symmetric cross- and angle-ply arrange-
ments based on Yen’s criterion is 41.2% and 94.27%, respectively.
This is less than that predicted by Hashin’s criterion. Similarly, for
antisymmetric cross- and angle-ply arrangements, Pf based on
Yen’s criterion is 99.5% and 94.4% less than that of Hashin’s
criterion. Therefore, the Pf for antisymmetric cross-ply layups
(Case II) is minimal in comparison to other ply arrangements,
namely, symmetric cross-ply, symmetric angle-ply, and antisym-
metric angle-ply irrespective of the failure criteria. Because of the
symmetric cross- and angle-ply arrangements, fiber fracture energy
is more than (or delamination energy is less than) that of the anti-
symmetric cross- and angle-ply arrangements. The ply arrange-
ments for an optimum design of composite beams play an important
role as discussed below.
4.1.1 Optimum Design of Composite Beam for Different Ply
Layups. The fiber failure initiation (Yen’s criterion) of composite
beams with antisymmetric cross-ply layups (Case II) has Pfs,
99.91%, 99.13%, and 97.89% less than that of symmetric cross-
ply (Case I), symmetric angle-ply (Case III), and anti-symmetric
angle-ply (Case IV) arrangements, respectively. It is because for the
symmetric ply arrangement, delamination energy is less than that of
the antisymmetric arrangement and additional energy is dissipated
through fiber failure.
5 Sensitivity Analysis
Sensitivity analysis of performance function with respect to the
changes in the random variables involved in the mathematical

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Fig. 2 Sensitivity behavior of simply supported cross-ply
beam
model provides information of variation in the statistical input of a
performance model. It is a technique for systematically changing
the strength and resistance parameters in a model to optimize the
design to achieve target reliability.
Sensitivity levels (ψ1 and ψ2 ) indicate the influence of mean (μ)
and standard deviation (σ) on probability of failure “p” or (Pf).
The following equations state the same in the general form
 
∂p
ψ1 ¼ ðσ=pÞ ð3Þ
∂μ
 
∂p
ψ2 ¼ ðσ=pÞ ð4Þ
∂σ
Equations (3) and (4) represent the rate of change of Pf with
respect to changes in mean values and standard deviations input
random variables.
Keeping in view the recommended target reliability by Goh et al.
[10], the Pfs are obtained and shown in Table 1. For symmetric
cross-ply arrangement, Pf value (0.0479) lies in an unacceptable
range. The bar chart (Fig. 2) shows that the Pf is directly propor-
tional to the mean value and scatter of random variables (E1 , E3 , V,
V 12 , and V 13 ). Likewise, the bars in the chart plotted on the negative
side show that the Pf is inversely proportional to the mean value of
random variables (E2 , G12 , G13 , G23 , V 23 , T 11 , and T 13 ). It is also
observed that the mean values and scatters of Young’s modulus
(E3 ), shear strength T 13 , and initial velocity of impactor (V) are the
most sensitive parameters that influence the Pf. The most sensitive
parameters are optimized according to the cumulative distribution
function (CDF) as shown in Fig. 3 to achieve the target Pf. For the
value of Z beyond zero, on a positive side, indicates the failure re-
gion. Hence, we restrict the value of Z ≤ 0, which indicates a safe
region. In this safe region (Z ≤ 0), the optimization may take place
to achieve the target reliability as well as to keep the design in the
safe region. Figure 3 shows that the Pf against the value of Z
(response) ranges in the region from −0.3 to 0.0. Remaining in the
safe region, we can optimize the composite target “as per sensitivity
chart” to achieve the target Pf of respective reliability. For example,
we obtain the Pf below the order of 10−3 against the respective value
of (Z ¼ −0.2). The optimization in terms of random variables is
required to maintain the values of the random parameters within the
permissible range.
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Part B: Mechanical Engineering
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Fig. 3 Probability of failure of simply supported cross-ply
composite beam
6 Conclusions
Fiber damage initiation is considered to be the safety criterion
for the S2-glass epoxy composite beam under high-velocity impact.
A comparative study of different fiber failure initiation criteria is
performed, and it is found that a maximum stress criterion is more
conservative than the Yen and Hashin failure criteria. The fiber
failure initiation of antisymmetric cross-ply layup (Case II) gives
minimum Pf compared to other ply layups, namely, symmetric
cross-ply, symmetric angle-ply, and antisymmetric angle-ply. Sen-
sitivity analysis shows that the Pf is significantly influenced by the
mean values and standard deviation of random variables such as E3 ,
T 13 , and V. The sensitivity-based probabilistic design optimization
procedure is investigated to achieve better strength and lighter
weight of composite for body armors.
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