Fatigue of short fibre reinforced polymers: from material process to fatigue life of industrial components

For many years, SFRPs (short fibre reinforced polyamides) have been used in the automotive industry as a means to reduce vehicle weight. However, their complex anisotropic and heterogeneous microstructure requires sophisticated material characterisation and simulation. This study aims at presenting the simulation strategy adopted by an automotive company address these challenges. The manufacturing process is first simulated and correlated with tomography analysis. Then, based on the numerical microstructure, integrative simulation is used to analyse and predict mechanical behaviour of fatigue coupons and industrial parts. Lastly, two fatigue criteria based on strain energy density are presented and fatigue lives of coupons and industrial parts assessed.