A MESH INDEPENDENT PENALTY BASED FINITE ELEMENT SOLUTION FOR MIXED-MODE DELAMINATION PROPAGATION

An effective interface element technology is presented for connecting and simulating crack growth between independently modeled finite element subdomains (e.g., composite plies). This method has been developed using penalty constraints and allows coupling of finite element models whose nodes do not necessarily coincide along their common interface. Additionally, the present formulation leads to a computational approach that is very efficient and completely compatible with existing commercial software. The interface element technology has been formulated to simulate delamination growth in composite laminates. Thanks to its special features, the interface element approach makes it possible to release portions of the interface surface whose length is smaller than that of the finite elements. The damage model can be applied to a desired fraction of the interface between the two meshes. Results are compared to measured data to assess the ability of the present damage model to simulate crack growth.