Thermo-mechanical progressive analysis on multiple delaminations in composite laminates

The multiple delaminations at different interfaces and their interactions should be described simultaneously in an accurate analysis approach of composite laminates under the multi-physics loading, but it is not studied thoroughly in the existing research works. A thermo-mechanical cohesive zone model is proposed to investigate the thermo-mechanical progressive growth of multiple delaminations in composite laminated plates. The multiple delaminations are simulated by the extended layerwise method (XLWM), and their thermo-mechanical progressive damage characterization is described by a discrete damage zone model (DDZM). A traction-separation law is employed to account for the heat flux transfer and mechanical load transfer across the delamination front. Several numerical examples of double cantilever beams and laminated plates are carried out to verify the proposed model for the contact and degradation problems. The thermo-mechanical progressive growth mechanism is also investigated for the multiple delaminations in composite laminated plates