Print Email Facebook Twitter C1 Cohesive Element Models for 3D Delamination Title C1 Cohesive Element Models for 3D Delamination: Towards overcoming the mesh density constraint in FE delamination analyses Author Tosti Balducci, Giorgio (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering; TU Delft Aerospace Structures & Materials) Contributor Chen, Boyang (mentor) Degree granting institution Delft University of Technology Programme Aerospace Engineering Date 2019-05-24 Abstract The wide adoption of composite structures in the aerospace industry asks for reliable numerical methods to account for the effects of damage, among which delamination. Cohesive elements (CEs) are a versatile and physically representative way of reproducing delamination, but, using their standard form, at least 3 elements are required in the narrow cohesive zone, hindering the applicability in practical scenarios. This limitation is due to the inability ofcurrent models to capture the deformation of the delaminating substrates. The present work focuses on the implementation and testing of triangular thin plate substrate elements and compatible cohesive elements, which satisfy C1-continuity at their boundary. The improved regularity meets the continuity requirement coming from the Kirchhoff Plate Theory and the triangular shape allows for conformity to complex geometries. After verification of plate andcohesive element singularly, the overall model is validated for mode I delamination. Very accurate predictions of the limit load and crack propagation phase are found, using CEs as large as 11 times the cohesive zone. To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:beda3ac2-5522-488a-9b4d-358f1a0b6313 Part of collection Student theses Document type master thesis Rights © 2019 Giorgio Tosti Balducci Files PDF Thesis_Report_Final.pdf 4.64 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:beda3ac2-5522-488a-9b4d-358f1a0b6313/datastream/OBJ/view