Progressive damage simulation of open-hole composite laminates under compression based on different failure criteria

Abstract

The strength prediction of open-hole fibre-reinforced composite laminate under compression is very important in the design of composite structures. The modelling of fibre, matrix damage and delamination plays an important role in the understanding of the damage mechanics of laminate under open-hole compression. In this article, a progressive damage model for open-hole compression that is based on continuum shell elements and cohesive elements is established to model in-plane damage and delamination, respectively. The damage mechanics of sublaminate-scaled laminates with ply sequence [45/0/−45/90]ms and ply-level-scaled laminates with ply sequence [45n/0n/−45n/90n]s are investigated by our proposed model. The Tsai-Wu and Hoffman failure criteria are employed for the determination of matrix damage initiation. Compared with the experiments, the numerical results using the Tsai-Wu criterion exhibit better accuracy regarding open-hole compression strength prediction and failure modes simulation.