Incremental finite element delamination model for fibre pull-out tests of elastomer-matrix composites

Abstract A finite element model is introduced to predict the delamination behaviour of a fibre pull-out test of an elastomer-matrix composite in an incremental approach. A displacement load is monotonically increased and stable crack growth is predicted. The finite element model uses energy differences of models with two different crack lengths to compute the energy release rate of the delamination crack. Parametric studies have been performed to determine the necessary element size and crack size increments, and investigate the effect of friction.