A rule of mixtures approach for delamination damage analysis in composite materials

The present study aims at investigating the delamination behavior of laminated composites in different loading modes within a homogenization theory of mixtures. The delamination damage phenomenon is introduced at the bulk level by eliminating the explicit representation of interfaces. Potential delamination planes are identified according to the developed interfacial stresses, and damage evolution is computed for each mode independently through a stress-based formulation. An arc-length strategy is employed to solve equilibrium equations owing to the snap-back effects. Reliability of the adopted mixing theory, as a framework for integrating the delamination theory into, is assessed by comparing the results with the ones obtained from micromechanical models in a fiber metal laminate structure. Considering delamination, a good agreement is observed in mode I, mode II and mixed mode configurations by evaluating the results against available numerical and experimental data in thermoset and thermoplastic composite systems. The present method has the capability to be used in the conventional finite element codes with the number of elements kinematically needed in the thickness, regardless of the number of layers, which dramatically reduces the computational cost in modeling composites with large number of layers. The proposed approach is not intended to replace other exact methods at the coupon scale, however, its main application would be in modeling delamination on large scale systems with minimum loss of accuracy.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version