Failure Mode Predictions in the Compressive Response of Laminated Composites

Of interest in this paper are failure mode interactions when laminated fiber reinforced composites are subjected to compressive loading. Delamination, fiber kink-banding and their interactions are seen to dominate the failure response. This interaction is captured through a computational model that includes interface elements to capture delamination, and, geometric and material nonlinearity to capture kink banding. A 2D cross-section analysis is used to guide the choice of interfaces that require cohesive elements, thus reducing computational complexity. Two different stacking sequences are investigated, and their compressive strength and failure modes are compared, between prediction and experiments.