Analytical and numerical studies on the buckling of delaminated composite beams

In this article, an innovative approach is proposed using the Euler–Bernoulli beam and classical lamination theory (CLT) to create an analytical model that can be used to obtain the buckling load of a delaminated composite beam. Furthermore, the finite element method is used as a tool to validate the analytical model. An 8-noded shell element and a contact pair are used in the numerical simulation. Studies are carried out on ply orientation, stacking sequence, through-the-width location of the delamination, delamination length and effect of total number of plies. It is found that application of R2 to the analytical model will always yield a more accurate answer than use of R1. It is also observed that B162A66 is an important expression that must be included to compute the flexural stiffness of the individual sub-laminates of the anti-symmetric laminated beam considered more accurately. Moreover, it is noted that the length of the delamination will affect the accuracy and difference between the analytical predictions. Nevertheless, the analytical results and simulation values are in good agreement.