Evaluation of Delamination Propagation in a Composite Structure Under Vibration Loading

In this paper the ability of delamination to propagate under vibration loading is investigated through adapted numerical approaches. On the one hand a linear approach is adopted for propagation delamination under pure shear modes: II and III. On the other hand a non-linear approach to crack opening under mixed mode I/II propagation is set up to deal with intermittent contacts of delaminated parts during vibration. The effects of different positions and sizes of the delamination on dynamic behavior are considered in the study cases of a beam and a plate. Evaluation of propagation is achieved by Strain Energy Release Rates computation.