Numerical Simulation of Progressive Delamination in Composite Laminates Under Mode I and Mode II Loadings

A progressive interlaminar damage model, based on the Northwestern University theory and a trapezoidal trilinear traction-separation law, is presented to predict the initiation and propagation of delamination in layered composites under Mode I and Mode II loadings. The capability and reliability of the damage model proposed is assessed by comparing its results with experimental data. It was found that the model was able to accurately predict the maximum load and postfailure behavior of composite laminates. The model proposed was also compared with the Abaqus inbuilt cohesive surface model, which is also based on a bilinear tractionseparation law, and our model was found to give more accurate results.