A novel mode-dependent and probabilistic semi-discrete damage model for progressive failure analysis of composite laminates - Part I: Meshing strategy and mixed-mode law

A novel semi-discrete damage model (SD2M) is proposed for the progressive failure analysis (PFA) of composite structures. The presented method utilizes a separation of fiber and matrix failure modes and introduces a material strength distribution to thin strips of matrix-splitting elements in order to capture the progression of transverse crack density. With the proposed meshing strategy, the discreteness is greatly enhanced, while the model remains efficient and simple by using solely continuum elements. The SD2M approach aims to unify desirable features of both smeared and discrete methods and utilizes a practical and simple mesh generation procedure. In addition, a novel mixed-mode law is proposed to capture the damage evolution of matrix cracks. The proposed mixedmode formulation ensures smooth and simultaneous vanishing of traction components and is suitable for generic softening laws. Applications of SD2M to several examples are presented in part II [1] of this two-part paper.