Kinematically Enhanced Constitutive Modelling: A Viable Option for the Simulation of the Manufacturing of Full-scale Composite Parts

Earlier work carried out the University of Bristol has shown the possibility to accurately predict consolidation-driven defect formation in composite parts using a ply-by-ply approach. However, using this method, a typical model for a lab-scale specimen can easily reach the hundreds of thousands of degrees of freedom, which makes it unsuitable for the modelling of full-scale components and limits its applicability for the modelling of real industrial cases. The present contribution, proposes to overcome this difficulty using kinematically enhanced constitutive modelling. The paper first discusses the basis of kinematically enhanced modelling for layered structures made of soft anisotropic material. The ability of the proposed framework to significantly reduce the computational cost of the simulation while correctly capturing consolidation and defect formation processesis then established. Finally, conclusions are drawn on the prospect for modelling larger components.