Finite element modeling of partially delaminated composite beams with contact-impact conditions

• Main Author: Aygunes, Haluk
• Other Authors: Kwon, Young W.
• Language: en_US
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2013
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/30820

A new finite element modeling is presented to investigate the static and dynamic behavior of laminated composite beams with partial delamination. In this study, a newly developed rectangular beam element is used. The element has lateral and axial displacements as degrees of freedom but no rotation. For simplicity, linear shape functions are used for the beam element. As a result, the element has six degrees of freedom, four of which are the axial displacements at the corner points and two are the lateral displacements at the ends. In addition, contact-impact conditions are applied to the finite element modeling to avoid overlapping of the upper and lower portions of a delaminated section. The numerical study shows that depending on existence of an embedded delamination crack and its size, the response is different for a beam with a crack and subjected to a short impulse load.