Micromechanical finite element analyses of fire-retarded woven fabric composites at elevated temperatures using unit cells at multiple length scales

This paper presents a micromechanical Finite Element (FE) model developed to predict the effective mechanical properties of glass fibre-reinforced (woven fabric) polymer composites with/without fire retardant particulate additives at elevated temperatures. The elevated mechanical properties of glass fibre-reinforced epoxy composites with/without fire retardants were predicted using three unit cells of varying length scales in micromechanical FE analysis. Theoretically predictions of flexural behaviour of these fibre-reinforced polymer composites at elevated temperatures were satisfactorily validated against experimentally measured data. The numerical model developed herein was then used for the prediction of other mechanical properties of fibre-reinforced polymer composites that would have been difficult to collect at elevated temperatures. Micromechanical FE models such as the one contained in this paper are useful to architectural engineers as they can be used to guide the design and qualification of new engineering composites that satisfy stringent Building codes in fire prone engineering applications. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.