Failure analysis of carbon fiber/epoxy composite cylindrical laminates using explicit finite element method

Abstract Based on continuum damage mechanics, the progressive failure analysis using explicit finite element method is performed to predict the failure properties and burst strengths of aluminum–carbon fiber/epoxy composite cylindrical laminate structures in terms of three composite pressure vessels with different geometry sizes. The failure analysis employs the Hashin damage initiation criterion and the fracture energy-based damage evolution law for composite layers. The numerical convergence problem is solved by introducing viscous damping effect into finite element equations for strain softening phenomenon. Effects of the calculation time and mesh sizes on the failure properties of composite laminates are explored. In addition, the predicted failure strengths of composite laminates using explicit finite element analysis are also compared with those by experiments and implicit finite element analysis.