Progressive fracture analysis of the open-hole composite laminates: experiment and simulation

A conforming augmented finite element method (C-AFEM) is extended to predict the failure process in inter-ply of fiber-reinforced composite laminates. Combining with cohesive zone model (CZM) element, the delamination between inter-plies can also be captured. Matrix fracture, fiber fracture and delamination in inter-plies will occur when the composite laminate fracture, which is a complicated process, and the current method appears capable of modelling failure mechanism of composite laminates, which is demonstrated mesh-independent, high-fidelity and robust. Different stacking open-hole composite laminates subject to tension load are tested by electrical measurement and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) system. The proposed C-AFEM is applied to model progressive failure of open-hole composite laminates and results are found to agree with experiments very well.

Automated summary

The C-AFEM method combined with CZM elements accurately predicts the inter-ply failure process in composite materials, demonstrating high-fidelity and robustness in modeling the failure mechanisms of composite laminates, as validated by experimental results.