Progressive damage modeling of laminated composites by considering simultaneous effects of interlaminar and intralaminar damage mechanisms

In this study، initiation and evolution of damages in AS4/PEEK laminated composites with center open hole under in-plane loading are investigated using finite element analysis. Hashin failure criteria are used to obtain the damage initiation of composite laminates. In addition، in order to capture the various in-plane failure mechanisms in this laminate، Hashin progressive damage model، which is an energy based model، is used. As delamination is one of the most critical damage mechanisms in composite materials، initiation and propagation of delamination in the mentioned laminate are modeled utilizing cohesive zone model. In order to simulate progressive damages of laminated composites، Abaqus software is used and all applied damage models are available in this commercial software. It is worth to note that، in the proposed model، interlaminar and intralaminar damages are considered simultaneously. Comparison of the present numerical results and experimental ones shows that by using the cohesive zone model to simulate the delamination، experimental load-displacement curve can be predicted more accurately. Also different in-ply damages and delamination patterns that obtained by the proposed model are presented to clarify different damage mechanisms in composite materials..