Composite laminate failure analysis using multicontinuum theory

Damage in a composite material typically begins at the constituent level and may, in fact, be limited to only one constituent in some situations. An accurate prediction of constituent damage at sampling points throughout a laminate provides a genesis for progressively analyzing failure of a composite structure from start to finish. Multicontinuum Theory is a micromechanics based theory and associated numerical algorithm for extracting, virtually without a time penalty, the stress and strain fields for a composites' constituents during a routine finite element analysis. A constituent stress-based failure criterion is used to construct a nonlinear progressive failure algorithm for investigating the material failure strengths of composite laminates. The proposed failure analysis methodology was used to simulate the nonlinear laminate behavior and progressive damage of selected laminates under both uniaxial and biaxial load conditions up to their ultimate strength. This effort was part of a broader project to compare the predictive capability of current composite failure criteria. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.