The proper generalized decomposition for the simulation of delamination using cohesive zone model

The use of cohesive zone models is an e cient way to treat the damage, especially when the crack path is known a priori. This is the case in the modeling of delamination in composite laminates. However, the simulations using cohesive zone models are expensive in a computational point of view. When using implicit time integration scheme or when solving static problems, the non-linearity related to the cohesive model requires many iterations before reaching convergence. In explicit approaches, the time step stability condition also requires an important number of iterations. In this article, a new approach based on a separated representation of the solution is proposed. The Proper Generalized Decomposition is used to build the solution. This technique, coupled with a cohesive zone model, allows a signi cant reduction of the computational cost. The results approximated with the PGD are very close to the ones obtained using the classical nite element approach.