Damage propagation analyses of CFRP laminated OHT test specimens with gap defects

Abstract

CFRP laminated composite structures manufactured by Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) may have gap and overlap defects and these potentially affect the strength of the structures. This study aims the development of finite element analysis models, which can consider strength reduction due to such defects. This paper proposes the modeling method considering ply-thickness variation induced by gap defects and shows the numerical results obtained by damage propagation analyses for the Open Hole Tensile Test of CFRP laminate with a gap defect.