Simulation of Delamination Crack Growth in Composite Laminates: Application of Local and Non-Local Interface Damage Models

The use of composite laminates is increasing in these days due to higher strength and low density values in comparison of metals. Delamination is a major source of failure in composite laminates. Damage mechanics based theories are employed to simulate the delamination phenomena between composite laminates. These damage models are inherently local and can cause the concentration of stresses around the crack tip. In the present study integral type non-local damage formulation is proposed to avoid the localization problem associated to damage formulation. A comprehensive study is carried out for the selection of different non-local variables. Finite Element simulations based on proposed non-local damage models and classical local damage model are performed and results are compared with available experimental data for UD IMS/924 Carbon/fiber epoxy composite laminate