Numerical Prediction of Fatigue Damage Progress in Holed CFRP Laminates Using Cohesive Elements

Abstract

This study presents a numerical simulation to predicting damage progress in notched composite laminates under cyclic loading by using cohesive zone model. A damage-mechanics concept was introduced directly into the fracture process in cohesive elements in order to express the crack growth by cyclic loading. This approach then conformed to the established damage mechanics and also facilitated understanding of the procedure and the reduction of computation costs. We numerically investigated the damage progress in holed CFRP cross-ply laminates under tensile cyclic loading and compared the predicted damage patterns with experiments. The predicted damage patterns agreed with the experiment results that exhibited the extension of the multiple types of damage (i.e., splits, transverse cracks and delamination) near the hole. A numerical study indicated that the change in the distribution of in-plane shear stress due to delamination induced the extension of splits and transverse cracks near the hole.