Validation of a simplified analysis for the simulation of delamination of CFRP composite laminated materials under pure mode I

Abstract

The cohesive zone modelling (CZM) is extensively used for the simulation of delamination propagation of composite laminated materials. The Finite Element (FE) method is able to support the CZM. Nevertheless, a refined mesh in the cohesive zone is required to describe accurately the energy dissipation. A 1D-beam simplified analysis based on the macro-element (ME) technique has been developed for the stress analysis of bonded joints, supporting damage evolution adhesive material law. The objective of this paper is to provide a validation of the ability of this macro-element technique for the simulation of delamination propagation in pure mode I of composite laminates. This validation is led through a comparative study between experimental test results, 3D FE model predictions and 1D-beam ME predictions. The experimental test campaign allows in particular for the assessment of the interlaminar strength and critical energy release rate in pure mode I. The thermoset unidirectional (UD) prepreg composite material IMA/M21E is used for this paper.

Assessment of interface failure behaviour for brittle adhesive using the three-point bending test

“…The authors used this last approach for the interface modelling to simulate a 3PBT up to failure. It has already been successfully used for the simplified stress analysis of bonded joints up to failure [15] as well as for the simulation of the delamination of composite laminates [16].…”

“…As stated in Section 4.1, the ME technique has already been successfully used for the simplified stress analysis of bonded joints up to failure [15] as well as for the simulation of the delamination of composite laminates [16]. Thus, Appendix B.1 briefly demonstrates that the ME technique is suitable for modelling an adhesive block of 4 mm thick and 25 mm long as a beam.…”

Modelling load transfer in single-lap adhesively bonded and hybrid (bolted / bonded) joints

“…Applied to pure bonded joints, ME modelling is a semi-analytical method extending the scope of models belonging to the first family. It offers the advantage of providing a solution for geometrical, material and loading configurations for which there are no closed-form solutions [81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93]. As demonstrated in sections 4 and 5, ME modelling is an attractive approach to support the variation and associated growing complexity of simplifying hypotheses at low computational cost.…”

Simplified stress analysis of multilayered bonded structure under 1D-bar kinematics

“…Indeed, it will be multiplied by 10. The FE analysis has been performed thanks to the software SAMCEF by modeling the adherends as bars and the adhesive layer as shear springs [12], which is coherent with the TEPS model that uses Volkersen assumptions (Fig. 14).…”

“…The ME technique is successfully used for the simplified stress analysis of single-lap bonded joints under mechanical and thermal loadings, eventually involving graded materials and geometrical properties along the overlap as well as nonlinear adhesive material behavior, while demanding low computational time [8][9][10][11]. Moreover, it is applied to the simulation of the delamination of composite laminated materials under pure mode I for a double cantilever beam test [12]. In this work, the homogeneous properties of composite materials are used for each of both arms, so that the ME used is made of two composite layers linked by one interface layer to be delaminated.…”