The stabilizing effects of fiber bridges on delamination cracks

We investigate the extent to which the presence of a fiber bridge at a crack tip bears upon propagation due to local buckling of an existing crack in composite plates under compressive load. The model includes an assembly of beams with no limitation of the crack position in the thickness of the plate. We determine the material parameters of the fiber bridging by fitting the R curve obtained from experimental data. We perform an extensive parametric study which shows a strong stabilizing effect of the fiber bridge on the crack delamination.