Numerical Investigation of the Damage in Composite Materials Under Dynamic Loads Using a Combination of Intralaminaire and Interlaminaire Model

Abstract

Numerical finite element method using solid elements discretisation is increasingly used to simulate the impact behaviour of composite materials. In order to describe the intralaminar damage of composite materials, a three dimensional damage model is investigated. The purpose of this work is to explore the effect of the failure criteria on the dynamic failure properties of carbone fibre composite laminate. The intralaminar damage model is performed with different failure criteria including the twodimensional Hashin criteria extended to the three-dimensional case and the threedimensional Hashin criteria for the fibres coupled with the Puck criteria for the matrix. The two criteria were than incorporated in a VUMAT subroutine implemented in the explicit finite element code Abaqus. Furthermore, the delamination is simulated by the bilinear cohesive zone model (CZM) available in the finite element code Abaqus. To validate the material model implemented in the VUMAT subroutine and the effect of its association with the CZM, the numerical impact computations performed for various incident velocities were compared to the experimental measurements available in the literature. The results show that the impact response in term of residual velocity presents some difference due essentially to the effect of the criteria used in the intralaminar model. The Hashin criteria for the fibres associated with the Puck criteria for the matrix presents good agreement with the experimental data. The association of the intralaminar model with the CZM leads to a slightly larger value of the residual velocity. This research work outlines the importance of the use of appropriate failure criteria at high velocity impact analysis.