Progressive failure analysis of perforated aluminium/CFRP fibre metal laminates using a combined elastoplastic damage model and including delamination effects

In this work, a finite element (FE) model which includes in-ply and delamination damage effects is developed for progressive failure analyses of fibre-metal laminates (FMLs). The combined elastoplastic damage model recently developed by the authors is applied to represent the in-plane mechanical response of the composite layers. Delamination is taken into account by a cohesive zone method implemented using the cohesive elements available in Abaqus. The metal layers are simulated using the Abaqus built-in isotropic elastic-plastic model. The model is first employed to investigate the blunt-notched behaviour of a GLARE specimen, and then, applied to study the effects of layup configurations (i.e., unidirectional, cross-ply and quasi-isotropic) and the numbers of holes (i.e., 0, 1, 3, 6 and 9) on the mechanical response of perforated aluminium/CFRP FMLs. Also, the stress distribution and damage progression patterns together with the failure sequences for the quasi-isotropic FMLs with 1 hole and 9 holes under tensile loading are discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.