Numerical Study of Delamination of a DCB Beam Under Dynamic Loading by Mixed Finite Element

Abstract

The main objective of the present study is the calculation of the Energy Release Rate (ERR) in the case of delamination of composite structures subjected to dynamic load. A new numerical model based on the Mixed Finite Element RMQ-7 (Reissner Modified Quadrilateral with 7-nodes) and associated to the Virtual Crack Extension Method (VCE) has been developed to this purpose. The energy balance principal has made it possible to introduce Kinetic Energy into computation of ERR. Numerical analysis of delamination in composite laminates was investigated to validate the model. It was carried on a Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) sample. The numerical results obtained for the DCB delamination under dynamic loading in Mode-I was in good agreement with those found experimentally by other authors. These results confirming the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed model.