Influence of transverse cracking on ply behavior: Introduction of a characteristic damage variable

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Abstract

The most critical types of damage in composite materials are transverse cracking, delamination and fiber breakage. We have studied transverse cracking in a specimen submitted to axial and shear loading.

The proposed model, based on damage mechanics, analyses the consequences of this degradation by a decrease of the anisotropic stiffnesses of the damaged layers of a composite structure. A damage variable is introduced to formulate a damage onset criterion and a damage development law. The development of cracks is simulated by a homogenization method and a macroscopic continuum damage mechanics (CDM) approach.

The influence of the orientation of adjacent plies, the thickness and the position of the cracked ply in the stacking sequence have been studied. An iterative process is used to introduce the non-linearity of this damage development in a finite element program. The results obtained for beams submitted to axial loading are compared with experimental curves. Some practical applications are presented for laminated plates containing an open hole subjected to axial and biaxial loading.

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