Micro–macro FE modeling of damage evolution in laminated composite plates subjected to low velocity impact

A phenomenological-based micro–macro mechanical method, comprising the coupling of a 3D continuum damage mechanics (CDM) model with an original micromechanical FE model, is presented to predict low velocity impact response of composite laminates. The key point of the proposed method is the definition and computation of saturation crack density, which is used to scale impact-induced delamination instead of via expensive cohesive zone model based FEM. In order to gain the specific value of the saturation crack density, a micromechanical FE model is established based on the RVE technique. Additionally, the initiation of intralaminar failure including fiber fracture (FF) and inter-fiber fracture (IFF) is evaluated by Puck criteria, and its evolution, with considering effects of the fracture plane angle, is assumed to be controlled by equivalent strains on the fracture plane rather than the classic material principal axis plane. A good agreement between the experimental and simulated results shows correctness and effectiveness of the developed micro–macro mechanical method for predicting impact response and damage using a relatively coarse mesh. Furthermore, significant reduction of computational cost, compared with existing techniques, can be achieved with the novel mesh-independent method.