Coupling four-parameters bond-based peridynamic and finite elements for damage analysis of composite structures

Abstract

The difficulty in inferring the failure region is the main obstacle for applying coupling algorithms for progressive damage analysis of composite structures. This paper presents a new finite element and peridynamic (PD) coupling framework, in which an adaptive transformation technique is implemented for failure analysis of laminated structures. Since the mechanical properties of a multi-layer laminate can be characterized by single-layer finite elements, this coupling model (CM) exhibits great potential in balancing numerical accuracy and computational efficiency. During the damage evolution process, the single-layer finite element is adaptively transformated into multi-layer PD material points according to the transformation criterion as the load increases, and then the damage begins to nucleate and evolve in the PD subregions. Compared with other coupling models, the PD subregions adaptively appear in the potential failure sites, and its area is much smaller than other finite element subregions. Thus, the theoretical advantages of coupling algorithms in modeling multi-layer structures can be fully utilized, and the computational efficiency of numerical models will be greatly improved. The accuracy of the developed coupling model is demonstrated by the stretching example of composite laminates, and the damage examples of laminates with a cutout further demonstrates the strong capability of the proposed coupling model in capturing the failure characteristics.