A modified progressive damage model for simulating low-velocity impact of composite laminates

Abstract

A modified progressive damage model is constructed to analyze the damage mechanics and damage development of composite laminates induced by low-velocity impact in this article. The damage modes are judged by the 3D Hashin failure criterion. A modified damage evolution model, which was constructed based on through-thickness normal strain component [Formula: see text], is implemented to describe progressive damage of composites. Cohesive elements with quadratic failure criterion and B-K criterion are applied to simulate the development of delamination. The 3D Hashin criterion and modified damage evolution model are coded in VUMAT and called in the ABAQUS/Explicit package. The damage distribution and mechanical behavior, including impactor energy, react force, displacement, predicted by numerical simulation are compared with the experimental data of different impact energies (7.35, 11.03, and 14.70 J). The numerical results and experimental data are in good agreement, which suggests that the modified damage evolution model is beneficial for studying the dynamic mechanical behavior during impact. Moreover, the influence of cohesive element thickness on numerical results is discussed. It is concluded that the cohesive element thickness should be adopted between 0.001 and 0.0075 mm.

Review of low-velocity impact analysis methods for composite structures

“…In the finite element method, the use of appropriate failure criteria allows for more accurate simulation of stiffness degradation of composites in the presence of fiber or matrix damage [31]. Based on empirical formulations and mechanical derivations, many failure criteria have been developed for composites over the past 40 years, such as the maximum stress/strain criterion, Tsai-Wu criterion, Tsai-Hill criterion, 3D Hashin criterion, Chang-Chang criterion, and Puck criterion [32] [33] [34].…”

Low‐velocity multiple impact damage characteristics and numerical simulation of carbon fiber/epoxy composite laminates

“…Lopes et al 31 proposed a virtual tool for numerical simulation of low‐velocity impact damage in unidirectional composites, which gave reasonable results under conditions where the impact energy was below or above the threshold of “almost invisible impact damage” up to perforation of the laminate. Shao et al 32 constructed an improved progressive damage model, which overcame the limitation of calculating matrix damage by three‐dimensional hash criterion, and better simulated the mechanical behavior and damage development of composite laminated plates caused by low‐speed impact under three impact energies. It was evident that the application of numerical simulation for analyzing the impact damage suffered by composite materials is successful, but the current research mostly focused on the simulation of a single impact event, and there was a shortage of research on the simulation of composite materials subjected to multiple impacts, especially the simulation research of multiple impacts under different impact energies.…”