Micro-Meso Mechanics Based Modeling of Damage Evolution in Cross Ply Laminates Composites

This paper develops a numerical model to study the crack density evolution and delamination initiated from the transverse crack tips for microcracked ply in cross-ply laminates subjected to tensile loading. A representative unit cell using an energy based model is performed to study the growth of a new transverse crack and delamination process between two existing cracks in the 90° layer of a cross-ply laminate. However, an improved damage mesomodel for laminates allowing the calculation an energy standpoint, to the damaged laminate micromodel. A shear lag model was adopted to evaluate the stress distribution. The solution presented is obtained by using finite element analysis which implements micro-meso progressive failure analysis, while the effect of the stacking sequences has been done by varying the thickness of the 90° plies.