Abstract
The essential difficulties to evaluate the mechanical properties of composite material structures lies in the fact that various kinds of mechanical, geometrical and material inhomogeneity should be taken into consideration in every phase of analysis, ranging from fiber/matrix interfaces to adhesive joints of structural components. Damage growth process of composite materials is very complicated and modeling has not been easy. However the recent advances in experimental and computational mechanics have been making it possible to offer more flexible and
versatile techniques, ranging from micro(or meso)-mechanics to macro-mechanics, for more realistic and accurate modeling of composite material structures, not only for structural performance but also for damage growth process. This paper illustrates and discusses several typical and successful applications of these approaches to modeling of mechanical properties of composite material structures with special reference to characterization of damage and damage progression.
