A cohesive finite element model based ALE formulation for z-pins reinforced multilayered composite beams

A computational formulation able to simulate fast crack growth in multilayered composite reinforced with z-pins is proposed. In particular, in order to identify the initiation and the growth of the crack, a moving mesh strategy, based on ALE approach, is combined with a cohesive methodology, in which weak based moving connections with the boundary adjoining layers are implemented by using a finite element formulation. Contrarily, z-pin reinforced area was simulated with a deformation of a set of discrete nonlinear springs fixed to material domain. Despite existing methodologies available from the literature, the present paper proposes a computational procedure able to study the dynamic crack growth in composite structures with a relatively low computational efforts. The analysis is proposed also in a non-stationary framework, in which the influence of time dependence and the inertial forces is taken into account. In order to investigate the accuracy and to validate the proposed methodology, comparisons with experimental data and numerical results are compared. Finally, the parametric study in terms of z-pins characteristics is also developed.