Investigation of a secondary bonded pultrusion composite laminate containing a ply-drop, Part 2: A novel two-dimensional hybrid fracture discrete element for producing debond failure

Abstract

This is the second of two papers in which a novel numerical method to predict the debond failure of a secondary bonded pultrusion laminate is presented. In Part 1 of this study, experimental work was described which is used here in the development, calibration and validation of the numerical model. The structure investigated in this work may be represented by a bonded composite laminate with external ply-drops (PDs).

In this part of the study, a fully coupled mixed mode cohesive zone model is developed which relies upon a traction-separation relation and the virtual crack closure technique to obtain the mode mixity. These are used to develop a hybrid fracture discrete element (HFDE). Fracture toughness tests, as well as tests on PD specimens are used to calibrate the model. Based on these tests, run-arrest fracture criteria are defined. The model is validated by comparing test results for two other PD specimen types to those obtained with the HFDE and finite element analyses.