Paper number 310

FINITE ELEMENT DAMAGE PREDICTION OF COMPOSITE STRUCTURES

L. Gornet

Laboratoire Mécanique et Matériaux, Division Mécanique des Structures, Ecole Centrale Nantes, 1 rue de la noë, BP 91101, 44321 Nantes cedex 03, France

Summary This study recalls the basic principles of a general damage computational approach for laminates and shows its possibilities for simulating the complete fracture phenomenon in the case of complex structures. For composites, continuum damage mechanics models are recalled. They are constitutive relations which, when included in a structural analysis code, are able to predict the damage state at any time and at any point of the studied structure until final fracture. The predictions are obtained with an extended version of the Finite Element code Castem 2000 (C.E.A.) developed specifically for laminate composite structures. This study describes, for carbon-fiber/epoxy-resin laminated composites, some examples of damage and delamination predictions by means of a damage mechanics computational approach.
Keywords damage mechanics, finite element predictions, delamination.

Theme : Composite Structures ; Modelling

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