Computational modeling of damage growth in composite laminates

A progressive damage growth model is developed for composite laminates under compression. The mechanics of damage initiation and growth in a single lamina is modeled in a two-dimensional plane stress setting, using a system of orthotropic nonlinear elastic relations and a set of internal state variables. The latter are associated with different damage mechanisms that are unique to a fiber-reinforced lamina. A thermodynamically consistent set of equations is developed for the evolution of damage growth. The formulation is numerically implemented using the commercially available finite element package ABAQUS. The present method is applied to analyze the problem of damage growth in a compressively loaded notched laminate. Predictions of the model compared against available experimental observations are promising.