Progressive delamination simulation of laminated plates based on a solid-shell interface element with damage-node model

This paper presents the delamination simulation of composite laminated plates induced by low-velocity transverse impact. The interfacial layers are modeled by the three-dimensional (3-D) solid-shell interface element with damage-node model presented by the authors, and the damage-node model derived from continuum damage mechanics is used to model the progressive damage of the interfacial layers. The delamination of two laminated plates under the action of a central impact load is simulated using the 3-D solid-shell interface element incorporating the damage-node model. The simulated interfacial damage propagations agree well the experimental results. The numerical results show that the 3-D solid-shell interface element with the progressive damage model presented in this paper is an efficient and accurate computational model for the progressive delamination simulation of composite laminated plates.