A progressive damage model of composite laminates under low-velocity impact

Abstract

In this paper, a progressive damage model for studying the dynamic mechanical response and damage development of composite laminates under low-velocity impact was established. The model applied the Hashin and Hou failure criteria to predict the initiation of intra-laminar damage (fiber and matrix damage); a linear degradation scheme combined with the equivalent displacement method was adopted to simulate the damage development; a cohesive zone model with the bilinear traction-separation relationship was used to predict delamination. A user material subroutine VUMAT was coded, and the simulation analysis of carbon fiber reinforcement composite laminates subjected to 25 J impact was performed via commercial software ABAQUS. The predicted impact force-time curve, impact force-displacement curve, and damage distribution contours among the layers were in a good agreement with the experimental, which verified the proposed model. According to the simulation results, the fiber damage and matrix damage were analyzed, and the expansion of delamination was discussed.