Damage-mechanics mesoscale modeling of composite laminates considering diffuse and discrete ply damages: Effects of ply thickness

Thin-ply composites are gaining significant attention owing to their high damage resistance and ability enhance design flexibility in a composite structure. Herein we proposed mechanics model considering diffuse discrete ply damages thin-ply laminates for mesoscale simulation. To investigate the effects of thickness on evolution, loading unloading tests were conducted using cross-ply, angle-ply, quasi-isotropic with several thicknesses. The evolution was quantitatively evaluated continuum mechanics. laws formulated dependency. A simulation demonstrated that retardation suppression captured by model. results also validated stiffness degradation failure strength three different thicknesses predicted good accuracy both damages.