Fatigue and Fracture in Composite Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Fatigue loading and fracture failure are major concerns in composite materials, as they are driven by complex, interacting damage mechanisms that evolve under service conditions. Key mechanisms—such as matrix cracking, fiber breakage, interfacial debonding, and delamination—often govern the durability and structural integrity of components used in aerospace, automotive, marine, wind energy, and other demanding engineering applications. As composite materials continue to replace traditional metals, understanding their behavior under both cyclic and static loading is essential. However, the heterogeneous and anisotropic nature of composites presents unique challenges for accurately characterizing and modeling their failure behavior across multiple length scales, necessitating advanced experimental techniques and high-fidelity numerical approaches.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, which aims to bring together recent advances in the fatigue and fracture analysis of composite materials. The issue will serve as a platform for the exchange of state-of-the-art research and emerging trends in both fundamental studies and applied engineering problems.

This Special Issue aims to provide an in-depth understanding of damage mechanisms in composite materials under fatigue and fracture loading, aligning with the journal’s scope on material behavior, structural performance, and reliability. We particularly encourage contributions that bridge experimental investigations and computational simulations, as well as studies involving novel materials, hybrid systems, or sustainability-driven composites. High-quality articles that explore new theories, modeling approaches, testing methods, or design strategies for improving durability are highly welcome.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Fatigue behavior and life prediction of composite structures;
• Fracture mechanics of polymer matrix composites;
• Multiscale and multiphysics modeling of damage evolution;
• Crack initiation, propagation, and delamination mechanisms;
• Discrete crack modeling and cohesive zone modeling approaches;
• Hybrid and multifunctional composites under cyclic loading;
• Influence of environmental effects on fatigue and fracture;
• Fatigue of woven, braided, and textile composites;
• Thermoset vs. thermoplastic composite performance;
• AI-assisted or data-driven fatigue/fracture prediction methods;
• Experimental testing methods and validation techniques.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Dr. Jie Zhi
Dr. Jinzhao Huang
Dr. Kailong Xu
Dr. Kun Tian
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Composites Science is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• composite materials
• fatigue behavior
• fracture mechanics
• damage evolution
• crack propagation
• multiscale modeling
• hybrid composites
• thermoset and thermoplastic composites
• experimental mechanics
• data-driven modeling
• life prediction