An efficient model for nonlinear analysis of laminated composite panels containing damage

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:175364

Yip, Y C; Averill, R C ^[1]

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1. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)

It is well known that first-order shear deformation plate/shell theories are usually adequate for simulating the structural response of laminated, composite panels, provided the span-to-thickness ratio is sufficiently large and the stiffness properties of adjacent plies do not vary significantly. However, when either of these two conditions is violated, or when local stress and deformation fields are of interest, it is necessary to account for the layerwise through-thickness variation of displacements in order to obtain accurate predictions of structural response. Such is the case when modeling laminates that contain ply damage or delaminations. While numerous layerwise theories for laminated composites are available, the majority of these contain a number of degrees of freedom that are proportional to the number of layers in the structure, and are thus computationally very expensive. In this paper, a new finite element model based on a unique form of a high-order zig-zag theory will be presented for nonlinear analysis of laminated panels containing damage. The element contains only engineering-type degrees of freedom, displacements and rotations, and has the nodal topology of an eight-noded brick element, though it is based on plate/shell kinematics. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the ability of this new formulation to model a variety of laminated panel problems with and without damage.

• OSTI ID: 175364
• Report Number(s): CONF-950686--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
DEFORMATION
DEGREES OF FREEDOM
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
LAYERS
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES
PANELS
SHEAR