Numerical prediction of compression after impact behavior of woven composite laminates

This work investigates the numerical prediction of compression after impact strength in woven composite laminates. Intralaminar and interlaminar damage prediction were evaluated using proposed damage models implemented as user defined material in ABAQUS Explicit multipurpose FE code. The numerical models were developed using the finite elements method with two different modeling approaches named Single Shell Model (SSM) and Split Shell Model (SpSM). The Single Shell Model (SSM) used only shell elements to model the laminates and the delamination effects were neglected. The delamination effects were included in the Split Shell Model (SpSM) by using a delamination contact-logic. An experimental programme was carried out to validate the proposed damage modeling approaches. The proposed damage models and the modeling approaches have proven to be capable of reproducing experimental results with good accuracy for the impact tests and CAI tests. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.