A fragile points method with a numerical-flux-based interface debonding model to simulate the delamination migration in composite laminates

Predicting damage in composite laminates is essential for a better utilization of the material, but it is challenging especially when the inter- and intra-ply damages are coupled. In this paper, a Fragile Points Method (FPM) with a numerical-flux-based interface debonding model is proposed to simulate the laminates’ damage. The FPM is a novel meshless method using the discontinuous Galerkin weak formulations and the point-based discontinuous polynomial trial functions. In this work, an orthotropic interface debonding model has been developed based on the numerical fluxes to simulate the mixed-mode inter- and intra-ply damage. For any interior interface in an FPM model, the interface damage is triggered when the damage criterion is satisfied and the interface is separated when the fracture energy is reached. Due to the discontinuous characteristics of the FPM, the inter- and intra-ply damage modes are introduced explicitly, and thus the coupling between them can be naturally captured. In this paper, the proposed FPM is verified by four benchmark examples for Mode I, Mode II and Mixed Mode delamination. Then the proposed method is applied to simulate the delamination migration, used as an example for the inter- and intra-ply damage. The FPM results show that this method is able to provide reliable prediction on the load–displacement curves as well as the damage and crack patterns, and the mechanism governing the delamination migration is also discussed based on the FPM results.