TY - GEN

T1 - A Discontinuous Shell Element for the Delamination Analysis of Composite Laminates

AU - Yazdani, Saleh

AU - Rust, Wilhelm J.H.

AU - Wriggers, Peter

N1 - Funding information: The present work was supported by the Government of Lower Saxony of Germany under the framework of the project MARIO (Multifunctional Active and Reactive Interfaces and Surfaces). The authors gratefully acknowledge this support.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Delamination analysis of laminated composite shells is studied. For this purpose, a four-noded flat shell element for linear and geometrically non-linear analyses is developed. The formulation is based on a first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and is valid for large displacements but moderate rotations. The extended finite element method (XFEM) is used to impose the discontinuous domain at an arbitrary through-the-thickness location. The progressive failure at the interface region is simulated through a mixed-mode cohesive zone model based on an exponential softening behavior. In addition, a simple non-frictional contact formulation is utilized to avoid the penetration of the discontinuous subdomains. To diminish the instability problem of the interface formulation, different integration rules are taken into account. Furthermore, the arc-length method with full Newton-Raphson iteration technique is applied to solve the non-linear governing equations. In order to verify the accuracy of the predictions, standard benchmark tests are carried out for analyzing shells, delamination, and the delamination buckling problems. The proposed model can be effectively used to model the delamination onset and its propagation in shell structures with less computational cost.

AB - Delamination analysis of laminated composite shells is studied. For this purpose, a four-noded flat shell element for linear and geometrically non-linear analyses is developed. The formulation is based on a first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and is valid for large displacements but moderate rotations. The extended finite element method (XFEM) is used to impose the discontinuous domain at an arbitrary through-the-thickness location. The progressive failure at the interface region is simulated through a mixed-mode cohesive zone model based on an exponential softening behavior. In addition, a simple non-frictional contact formulation is utilized to avoid the penetration of the discontinuous subdomains. To diminish the instability problem of the interface formulation, different integration rules are taken into account. Furthermore, the arc-length method with full Newton-Raphson iteration technique is applied to solve the non-linear governing equations. In order to verify the accuracy of the predictions, standard benchmark tests are carried out for analyzing shells, delamination, and the delamination buckling problems. The proposed model can be effectively used to model the delamination onset and its propagation in shell structures with less computational cost.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085406813&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.2514/6.2016-1971

DO - 10.2514/6.2016-1971

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85085406813

SN - 9781624103926

BT - 57th AIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference

PB - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. (AIAA)

T2 - 57th AIAA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, 2016

Y2 - 4 January 2016 through 8 January 2016

ER -