NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL PREDICTION OF THE PROPAGATION OF DELAMINATION OF BONDED COMPOSITE REPAIR PLATES UNDER MECHANICAL LOADING

Abstract

This study presents a numerical and analytical prediction of delamination of a repaired joint due to a defect in the composite under tensile loading. The three-dimensional finite element method is used to predict the delamination of a repaired plate with the VCCT method. The effects of the position of the delamination, percentage of the delaminated area, thickness and properties of the patch are presented. It can be noted that the propagation of delamination is significant only at node A and the analyzed model delaminated in mode I. The numerical results are in good agreement compared with the analytical solution found in the literature. It can be seen that the stiffness of the reinforcement material is strongly dependent on the mechanical properties of the patch interface. These results make it possible to choose the carbon/epoxy patch for the repair even if the graphite/epoxy has a high modulus of elasticity. The thickness and the mechanical properties parameter have a significant effect on increasing the durability of the structure.