Towards a bridge between the micro- and mesomechanics of delamination for laminated composites

We present a relatively complete bridge between the descriptions on the micro- and mesoscales of damaged laminated composites. The description on the microscale derives from the numerous theoretical and experimental works carried out in micromechanics. On the mesoscale, the plies and the interfaces are homogenized to arrive at a continuum damage mechanics approach. While previous works dealt mainly with the in-plane behavior of the laminate, here we introduce the out-of-plane part of the behavior, which is essential for the simulation of delamination. This results in a better understanding, consistent with micromechanics, of the mesomechanics of laminated composites introduced at Cachan and developed particularly there for more than 15 years. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.