A Progressive Damage Model for Laminated Composites Containing Stress Concentrations

A progressive damage model is presented for notched laminated composites subjected to tensile loading. The model is capable of assessing damage in laminates with arbitrary ply-orientations and of predicting the ultimate tensile strength of the notched laminates. The model consists of two parts, namely, the stress analysis and the failure analysis. Stresses and strains in laminates were analyzed on the basis of classical lamination theory with the consideration of material nonlinearity. Damage accumulation in laminates was evaluated by proposed failure criteria combined with a proposed property degradation model. A nonlinear finite element program, based on the model, was developed for lami nates containing a circular hole. Numerical results were compared with the experimental data on laminates containing an open circular hole. An excellent agreement was found be tween the analytical prediction and the experimental data.