Dynamic fracture assessment of variable angle tow composite laminates using XFEM

In this paper, a study in the dynamic fracture assessment of Variable Angle Tow (VAT) composite laminates is presented. An interaction integral, which includes extra terms to guarantee its domain independency, is developed to extract the mixed-mode Stress Intensity Factors (SIFs) for a dynamically propagating crack in VAT composite laminates. Besides, comprehensive tip enrichment functions are implemented in the framework of XFEM. According to results, the crack in quasi-stationary loading follows the fiber path, generally. But this path may change in dynamic loading conditions.

Automated summary

In this paper, a study on the dynamic fracture assessment of Variable Angle Tow (VAT) composite laminates is presented. An interaction integral is developed to extract the mixed-mode Stress Intensity Factors (SIFs) for a dynamically propagating crack, and comprehensive tip enrichment functions are implemented in the framework of XFEM. Results show that the crack follows the fiber path in quasi-stationary loading, but may change in dynamic loading conditions.