Modelling of mixed damage on fibre reinforced composite laminates subjected to low velocity impact

Author

1. JL Curiel Sosa1⇑
2. S Phaneendra2
3. JJ Munoz2

1. ¹Mechanical Engineering Subject Group, Department of Engineering and Mathematics, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
2. ²LaCaN, Department of Applied Mathematics III, School of Civil Engineering, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain

1. JL Curiel Sosa, Mechanical Engineering Subject Group, Department of Engineering and Mathematics, Sheffield Hallam University, Howard Street, Sheffield, S11WB, UK. Email: j.l.curiel-sosa@shu.ac.uk

Abstract

This article presents a numerical technique for the computation of damage in fibre-reinforced laminated composites which is embedded into an explicit finite element method. The technique is composed of two main components. First, a novel characterisation of the directions in which the various modes of damage propagate, which produces an effective damage localisation. This is conducted taking into consideration the strain-rate dependence. Second, a new mapping between the strain and stress spaces for the computation of the damage surfaces whereby time-stepping convergence is enhanced. Additionally, new damage initiation criteria in terms of strain damage surfaces are presented. Details of the in-house code developed are presented as well as the programming features. The capabilities of the technique are shown by means of tests on single fibre-reinforced element and low velocity impact on the laminate. It is shown that delamination is located in the expected regions by gradual progression of internal damage variables.

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http://ijd.sagepub.com/content/22/3/356.abstract