Damage Analysis of Laminated Composites with SAMCEF: Validation on Industrial Applications

In this paper the solution available in the LMS Samtech Samcef finite element code for damage analysis of composites is presented. Laminates made up of unidirectional (UD) plies are considered. Static and fatigue analyses are conducted. The damage models for inter- and intra-laminar damages are discussed and the parameter identification procedure is described. Comparison between tests and simulations at different levels of the pyramid of tests (building block approach) demonstrate the reliability of the numerical solution.