Modelling of delamination damage in composite beams

Composite structures have gained importance in engineering applications due to their favourable mechanical properties, for example laminate materials are widely used in many applications. However, for laminate materials, the presence of the layers makes the structures prone to delamination damage, which can be hard to detect with conventional detection techniques. An important aspect of any damage detection technique is an understanding of the mechanical behaviour of the ‘damaged’ material or component. This can be best achieved through theoretical modelling. This paper focuses on modelling delamination in composite beams using finite element analysis model and an analytical Euler-beam model. Several beam models with different delamination sizes were developed and analysed using FEA software ANSYS. The curvature plots obtained were analysed using the mathematical formulations of the governing equations. Finally, a simple 1-D beam model with delamination was developed to understand the mechanical behaviour of the delaminated component. The developed theory is later intended to be integrated with a new damage detection technique using a scanning laser doppler vibrometer.Manudha T. Herath, Kaustav Bandyopadhyay and Joshua D. Loga