Mesomodeling of delamination: towards industrial applications

We are using for the prediction of delamination a damage mesomodel for composite laminates defined previously. This mesomodel includes interlaminar interfacial deterioration as well as the main inner-layer damage mechanisms. Here, the attention is focused on some key aspects for industrial application: - a complement to the ply damage mesomodel in order to take into account out-of-plane shear effects; - a well-defined procedure for the identification of an interface damage model specific to the delamination prediction; - a structural failure criterion in order to predict which levels of damage and delamination are critical. The examples given concern the prediction of delamination and damage: (i) in holed. structures and (ii) under low velocity impact. This model is now being used in cooperation with Alcatel-Space to study the onset and propagation of delamination in holed sandwich structures. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.