Numerical simulation of tensile damage evolution in FRP cross-ply laminates

This paper proposes a numerical simulation based on finite element analysis (FEA) for the tensile damage and final failure in FRP cross-ply laminates. The simulation addresses multiple damage (transverse cracks, interlaminar delaminations, fiber breaks) simultaneously for the tensile failure process of cross-ply laminates. Transverse cracks are addressed as initial damage in 90° ply of cross-ply laminates by the cohenive zone model (CZM). The interlaminar delamination at the tips of those transverse cracks are addressed by aligning cohesive elements between 0° ply and 90° ply. Moreover, the fiber breaks in 0° ply are addressed by truss elements, which represent fibers in 0° ply. The simulated results of tensile damage evolution agree well with the experimental results. Especially, our simulation could reproduce a staggered pattern of transverse cracks and interlaminar delaminations at the tips of transverse cracks in [90/0]_s cross-ply laminates.