A computational technique for predicting delamination growth in solids with viscoelastic interfaces

Debonding of ply interfaces in composites is modeled herein with a micromechanically based viscoelastic cohesive zone model that is embedded in an implicit nonlinear finite element code. The cohesive zone model can be characterized from simple debonding experiments for a variety of viscoelastic media. The finite element code is briefly described, especially the algorithm for integrating the cohesive zone model in time. Example problems are solved herein demonstrating both the numerical robustness and accuracy of the numerical technique, as well as its usefulness for a wide range of current applications.

A computational technique for predicting delamination growth in solids with viscoelastic interfaces Conference Paper