Delamination growth of laminated composite cylindrical shells

The local buckling may occur in delaminated cylindrical shells under axial compression. This often causes delamination growth and structure failure. Based on the variational principle of moving boundary, in this paper, the postbuckling governing equations for the laminated cylindrical shells are derived, and the corresponding boundary and matching conditions are given. At the same time, according to the Griffith criterion, the formulas of energy release rate along the delamination front are obtained and the delamination growth is studied. In the numerical calculation, the delamination growth of axisymmetrical laminated cylindrical shells is analyzed, and the effects of delamination sizes and depths, the boundary conditions, the material properties and the laminate stacking sequences on delamination growth are discussed.