Numerical modeling of progressive damage in fiber reinforced plastic cross-ply laminates

A numerical model of the progressive damage in cross-ply laminates (e.g., transverse cracks, interlaminar delaminations, and fiber breaks) is proposed. In this model, the embedded process zone (EPZ) model is used for the transverse cracks and interlaminar delaminations; the truss elements are used to express the fiber breaks. First, we describe the formulation and algorithm of this model. Second, we calculate the transverse cracking stress in CFRP [0/90]s laminates and compare it with the experiments by Boniface et al. The comparison validates that our model can appropriately simulate the onset and accumulation of transverse cracks for an arbitrary thickness of the 90° ply to the 0° ply with a set of parameters. Finally, this model is applied to our experiments for GFRP [90/0]s laminates. The simulated results reproduce the complicated progressive damage in GFRP [90/0]s laminates very well.