Delamination buckling of fibre-metal laminates

A fibre-metal laminate is a composite of metal and fibre-reinforced prepreg layers. An example of such a material is Glare. It consists of alternating layers of aluminium and glass-fibre-reinforced prepreg. The material can be sensitive to delamination buckling, which occurs when a partially delaminated panel is subjected to a compressive force. The interaction of local buckling and extension of the delaminated zone typically results in a decrease of the residual strength and, eventually, in a collapse of the structure. This phenomenon can be observed in experimental tests, but numerical analyses are needed to obtain a better understanding of the mechanisms and the critical parameters. In this paper, some experimental observations are discussed regarding delamination buckling in Glare and, on the basis of these observations, a numerical model is constructed at a meso-mechanical level. In this approach, solidlike shell elements are used to model the individual layers. They are connected by interface elements, which are capable of modelling delamination between the layers. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.