Delamination buckling growth in laminated composites using layerwise-interface element

In this paper, a numerical investigation on the buckling of composite laminates containing delamination, under in-plane compressive loads, is presented. For this purpose, delamination propagation is modeled using the softening behavior of interface elements. The full layerwise plate theory is applied for approximating the displacement field of laminates and the interface elements are considered as a numerical layer between any two adjacent layers where the delamination is expected to propagate. A non-linear computer code was developed to handle the numerical procedure of delamination buckling growth in composite laminates using layerwise-interface elements. The load/displacement behavior and the contours of embedded and through-the-width delamination propagation for composite laminates are presented. It is shown that delamination growth can be well predicted using this layerwise-interface elements with decohesive law. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.