Compressive Behavior of a Glass/Epoxy Composite Laminates with Single Delamination

The buckling and postbuckling behaviors of a composite beam with single delamination are investigated. A three-dimensional finite element model using the commercial code ANSYS is employed for this purpose. The finite elements analyses have been performed using a linear buckling model based on the solution of the eigenvalues problem, and a non-linear one based on an incremental-iterative method. The large displacements have been taken into account in the nonlinear analysis. Instead of contact elements a new delamination closure device using rigid compression-only beam elements is developed. Effect of delamination length, position through thickness and stacking sequence of the plies on the buckling and postbuckling of laminates is investigated. It has been found that significant decreases occur in the critical buckling loads after a certain value of the delamination length. The position of delamination and the fiber orientation also affect these loads.