A criterion for modelling initiation and propagation

of matrix cracking and delamination in cross-ply laminates

J.-L. Rebiere
a,
*
, D. Gamby
b
a
Institut dAcoustique et de Mecanique, Universite du Maine, Avenue Olivier Messiaen 72085 Le Mans Cedex 9, France
b
Laboratoire de Mecanique et Physique des Materiaux, ENSMA, Teleport 2, 1 Avenue Clement Ader, BP 40109,
86961 Futuroscope Chasseneuil Cedex, France
Received 27 November 2003; received in revised form 25 March 2004; accepted 30 March 2004
Available online 14 May 2004
Abstract
A variational approach is used to model the behaviour of composite cross-ply laminates damaged by transverse, longitudinal
cracking and delamination. An energetic criterion is proposed. It is based on the strain energy release rate associated with each of the
three damage modes. The rst part of this paper is concerned with the modelling of the transverse and longitudinal cracking. In the
second part, a model for studying delamination damage is presented. The numerical results showthat these models provide a consistent
level of accuracy for a variety of thin laminate material systems and congurations, with various combinations of delaminations and
matrix cracks. In this paper several numerical simulations meant to describe initiation for each damage mode are proposed. The es-
timationof damage modes contributions is achievedfor twothinlaminates inorder topredict the evolutionof damage mode transition.
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: A. Polymer-matrix composites; B. Matrix cracking; C. Delamination; Damage mechanics; D. Life prediction
1. Introduction
The ultimate failure of a laminate follows the occur-
rence of two or three damage mechanisms and bre
breaking. Usually, these three main damage modes are,
rst, transverse cracking, later longitudinal cracking
and/or delamination. Experimentally, it was observed
that the order and initiation time of each damage mode
are governed by the following parameters: the laminate
geometry, for example the thicknesses of the dierent
layers [1,2], the nature of the bre/matrix constituents,
the loading history and the cycle of fabrication [3,4]. The
rst part of this study investigates the inuence of matrix
cracking (transverse and longitudinal) on the mechanical
properties of a cross-ply laminate. In the second part,
delamination is studied and in the third part examples of
damage mode succession are proposed. This study was
prompted by experimental results [513]. In experimen-
tal loading conditions (monotonic and fatigue tests), the
results [513] show that the rst damage mode is usually
transverse cracking. Two particular states can cha-
racterise this damage mode: its initiation or occurrence
of the rst transverse crack called rst ply failure
(FPF) on one hand and the limiting state when no more
transverse crack can be created, named characteristic
damage state (CDS) on the other. Afterwards, it was
observed that the nature of the second damage mode
depends on the three above parameters. For example, in
a thick laminate, the authors of [59] observed the ini-
tiation and evolution of delamination. Ply separation is
caused by the increase of the normal stress r
zz
and of the
interlaminar stress r
xz
. For thin laminates, the damage
mode succession is dierent. Some authors [5,1014]
observed that the second damage mode, which follows
transverse cracking, is longitudinal cracking. In this
case, local delamination appears between 0 and 90
layers, near the crossing of longitudinal and transverse
cracks, only when longitudinal cracks are widespread. In
each case, the accumulation of the dierent damage
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-2-43-83-34-75; fax: +33-2-43-83-
31-49.
E-mail addresses: jean-luc.rebiere@univ-lemans.fr (J.-L. Rebiere),
gamby@lmpm.ensma.fr (D. Gamby).
0266-3538/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2004.03.008
Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250
www.elsevier.com/locate/compscitech
COMPOSITES
SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
modes (two or three damage modes present within the
laminate volume) causes bre breaking in the 0 layers.
All bre breaks entail splitting which appears just
before the ultimate failure of the laminate.
For modelling the strain/stress relationship during
damage growth, analytical and numerical approaches
have been proposed. Several models describe the initia-
tion of the rst damage mode. They mainly rely on some
stress eld distribution and a relationship between
loading and crack density is usually proposed. The sim-
plest models, called shear lag analysis [9,1518], are
generally displacement-based approaches. Other models
such as variational approaches, whose principles are
explained in [19,20], use the principle of minimum com-
plementary energy [2126]. Other studies rely on the -
nite element method [2729]. Alternative models are
based on phenomenological approaches [3035], self-
consistent analysis [36,37] or approaches that use specic
aspects of the cracks patterns [38]. Local delamination is
often described by two-dimensional models. This is the
case of the nite element study of Wang et al. [12]. We
can also cite the works of Nairn and Hu [39], based on a
variational approach in which the interaction between
transverse cracks and local delaminations, which appear
near crack tips, is described. Hashin [40] analyses lon-
gitudinal and transverse cracking through a variational
model, with a restrictive hypothesis of constant normal
stress distribution through the thickness of each dam-
aged layer. Binienda et al. [41], who propose a nite el-
ement approach, use the same energy criterion. For
modelling the initiation of the second and/or third
damage mode, several criteria were used. For instance, to
our knowledge, no criterion has been proposed for the
initiation and growth of longitudinal cracking, except in
the works of Binienda et al. [41] who computed the strain
energy release rate in a cross-ply laminate with a pre-
existing longitudinal crack. The main reason for this lack
of attention is that longitudinal damage appears only in
laminates having some specic thickness ratio and
stacking sequence. Moreover, when longitudinal matrix
cracking appears, it is generally shortly before the end of
the laminate life. On the opposite, for describing de-
lamination damage evolution, several criteria have been
proposed. Most of them either involve local stress values
or strain energy release rate associated with the damaged
area (or a parameter related to the damage surface). The
works of Sch on et al. [42] are based on an energy ap-
proach. For these authors, the strain energy release rate
is a good measure of the material resistance to delami-
nation growth. Two dierent delamination modes can be
observed according to the loading history, monotonic
loading (sudden loading) or fatigue loading. The above
authors conducted tests on DCB specimens. They
showed that the strain energy release rate associated with
delamination is not the same for static and fatigue tests.
Other models involve critical stress values. Marion
et al. [43] propose a quadratic stress criterion using the
value of the interlaminar stress at a characteristic dis-
tance of the interface. Leguillon et al. [44] compare the
stress criterion of [44] with a stress criterion based on the
mean shearing stress value only. There is a major ob-
stacle to the use of a delamination criterion based on a
maximum stress value along a debonding edge [44]. In a
model with homogenised layers and perfect interfaces,
the stress eld is singular as already mentioned: stress
components take on innite values at the intersection of
the interface and free edges. Even if these values remain
nite when computed, they are irrelevant. To overcome
this problem, Whitney and Nuismer [45] introduce a
characteristic length like Marion et al. [43]. Kim and
Nomenclature
a longitudinal half crack spacing
A
d
interlaminar delaminated area
A
f
intralaminar cracked area
b transverse half crack spacing
d
x
delamination length in the longitudinal di-
rection
d
y
delaminationlengthinthe transverse direction
k constraint parameter
h ply thickness
G strain energy release rate
G
FT
strain energy release rate associated with
transverse cracking
G
FL
strain energy release rate associated with
longitudinal cracking
G
dx
, G
dy
strain energy release rate associated with
delaminated length d
x
or d
y
G
c
critical strain energy release rate
G
crf
cracking critical strain energy release rate
G
crd
delamination critical strain energy release
rate
k ply index
L
1
laminate length in x direction
L
2
laminate length in y direction
m number of longitudinal cracks
n number of transverse cracks
S
ijkl
local compliances
t
0
0 layer thickness
2t
90
90 layer thickness
U
d
deformation energy of the whole laminate
U
cel
deformation energy of the unit damaged
cell
V volume of the half unit cell
2240 J.-L. Rebiere, D. Gamby / Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250
Sony [46] connect this distance with the layer thickness
modied by a factor varying from one to two. Brewer
and Lagace [1] and Lecuyer [47] assume that this distance
should be independent of the layer thickness, and that
the factor must be determined from experimentations.
We can also cite the works of Diaz-Diaz and Caron [48]
who propose a model for laminates with free edges in
uniaxial loading. In their approach, the edge singularity
is smoothed out. A simple shear stress criterion is pro-
posed and validated for two h
n

s
laminates. These
authors obtain critical values of the interlaminar shear
stress that depend on the thickness ratio of the layers but
do not depend on the layer orientations. To conrm this
result, they also performed a calculation with a criterion
based on the strain energy release rate.
In this section, we report experimental observations
concerning the dierent damage modes. Various ana-
lytical and numerical models are proposed for the
analysis of the stress eld during the evolution of the
damage. Some damage criteria, a stress based approach
and an energetical approach are described. In this arti-
cle, a damage initiation and growth is proposed.
A variational approach gives the stress eld necessary to
derive the strain energy release rate associated to each
damage mode. The inuence of the three damages
modes (transverse cracking, longitudinal cracking and
delamination) is studied. Using the proposed model, our
objective is to predict the successive occurrence of sev-
eral damage mechanisms during the life of a laminate.
We also studied the inuence of laminate architecture on
damage mechanisms and life prediction.
2. Matrix cracking modelling
The proposed analytical model is based on a varia-
tional approach for 0
m
; 90
n

s
cross-ply laminates
(Fig. 1). The parameter related to the lay up architecture
is kk t
0
=t
90
m=n where t
0
is the thickness of the 0
layer and 2t
90
is the thickness of the 90 layer. Experi-
mentally, as explained in the previous section, the fol-
lowing succession of damage modes can be observed.
The transverse cracking is the rst damage mode oc-
curring in the 90 layers. The cracks are supposed to
have a rectangular plane geometry and all cracks span
the whole width of the laminate plate and the whole
thickness of the 90 layers. Dierent damage mecha-
nisms are observed in the second damaging step which
occurs in this type of laminate. It can be delamination or
longitudinal cracking. Under some circumstances, lon-
gitudinal cracks appear in the 0 layers and they are
supposed to obey the same hypotheses as transverse
cracks. The distribution of longitudinal and transverse
cracks as well is supposed to be uniform in the two
x and y directions.
With the previous hypotheses related to the trans-
verse and longitudinal distributions and geometry of the
cracks the laminate damage can be described by the
unit damaged cell displayed in Fig. 2. This unit
damaged cell is situated between two consecutive
transverse cracks and two consecutive longitudinal
cracks. The geometrical hypotheses will be described
later.
The variational approach is based on the proper
choice of a statically admissible stress eld. The starting
point is the distribution used rst by Vasilev and
Duchenco [21], later by Hashin [22] and then by Varna
and Berglund [25]. However, we also take into account
the variation of the stress eld through the thickness of
the laminate damaged by transverse and longitudinal
cracks.
The stress eld in the two layers of the laminate has
the following form:
2 a
2 b
t
0
2 t
90
2 h
Longitudinal
Cracks
Transverse
Cracks
Triangular
Delaminated
Area
Uniaxial loading
z
y
x
Fig. 1. Laminate damaged by transverse and longitudinal cracks and delamination.
J.-L. Rebiere, D. Gamby / Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250 2241
r
Tk
ij
r
0k
ij
r
Pk
ij
: 1
For an undamaged laminate loaded in the x direction,
the layers are in an uniform plane stress state r
0k
ij
ob-
tained by the laminate plate theory, where k is the ply
index k 0; 90. Orthogonal cracks induce stress
perturbations in the 0 and 90 layers which are denoted
r
Pk
ij
.
In order to verify all the following boundary condi-
tions, we must use the hypothesis of uniform stress
distribution in the thickness of the 90 damaged layer. In
the 0 layers, the stress distribution through the thick-
ness is not uniform. The normal stresses have the fol-
lowing form:
r
90
xx
r
090
xx
1 /
1
x; r
90
yy
r
090
yy
1 w
1
y;
r
0
xx
r
00
xx
1 /
2
xuz; r
0
yy
r
00
yy
1 w
2
y:
2
The unknown functions are /
1
x, /
2
x, w
1
y, w
2
y
and uz. The overall equilibrium conditions in the
damaged laminate give:
r
090
xx
t
90
r
00
xx
t
0
r
90
xx
t
90
r
0
xx
t
0
r
0
h;
r
090
yy
t
90
r
00
yy
t
0
r
90
yy
t
90
r
0
t
0
0:
_
3
Using dimensionless quantities, x x=t
90
, y y=t
90
,
z z=t
90
,

h h=t
90
, a a=t
90
,

b b=t
90
and k t
0
=t
90
in
the previous Eqs. (2) and (3), we obtain:
r
90
xx
r
090
xx
1 /x; r
90
yy
r
090
yy
1 wy;
r
0
xx
r
00
xx

r
090
xx
k
/xuz; r
0
yy
r
00
yy

r
090
yy
k
wy:
4
Eq. (3) will be veried if the following condition is
imposed
_
h
1
uz dz k: 5
The three sets of boundary conditions presented in
Fig. 2 are:
Antisymmetric shear stress distribution:
r
90
xz
x; y; 0 r
90
yz
x; y; 0 0: 6
Traction continuity across the 0/90 interface:
r
90
xz
x; y; 1 r
0
xz
x; y; 1;
r
90
yz
x; y; 1 r
0
yz
x; y; 1;
r
90
zz
x; y; 1 r
0
xz
x; y; 1:
7
The upper face of the laminate at z h is stress free:
r
0
xz
x; y;

h 0; r
0
yz
x; y;

h 0;
r
0
zz
x; y;

h 0:
8
In this model, r
xy
is neglected in the whole laminate.
This hypothesis was brought out after several numerical
simulations with a nite element model and other
models [4]. So, with this hypothesis, the stress eld in the
two layers of the damaged laminate is as follows:
The stress eld in the 90 layer is such that
r
90
xx
r
090
xx
1 /x;
r
90
yy
r
090
yy
1 wy;
r
90
zz
r
090
xx
d
2
/x
dx
2
R
z
2
2
_ _
r
090
yy
d
2
wy
dy
2

h z
2
;
r
90
xy
0;
r
90
yz
r
090
yy
dwy
dy
z;
r
90
xz
r
090
xx
d/x
dx
z:
9
The stress eld in the 0 layers has the following form:
r
0
xx
r
00
xx

r
090
xx
k
/xuz;
r
0
yy
r
00
yy

r
090
yy
k
wy;
r
0
zz

r
090
xx
k
d
2
/x
dx
2
u
II
z
r
090
yy
2k
d
2
wy
dy
2

h z
2
;
r
0
xy
0;
r
0
yz

r
090
yy
k
dwy
dy

h z;
r
0
xz

r
090
xx
k
d/x
dx
u
I
z:
10
The constant R is obtained with the continuity Eq. (4)
and is such that R
u
II
1
k

1
2
with u
I

_
uzdz and
u
II

_
u
I
zdz.
2 a
2b
t
0
2 t
90
Transverse Cracks
Longitudinal Cracks
Fig. 2. Unit damaged cell with transverse and longitudinal cracks.
2242 J.-L. Rebiere, D. Gamby / Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250
The boundary conditions for the stress eld in the
damaged unit cell are:
/a w

b 1; /
0
a w
0

b 0;
where
/
0
x
d/x
dx
; /
00
x
d
2
/x
dx
2
and
w
0
y
dwy
dy
; w
00
y
d
2
wy
dy
2
; 11
u
I

h u
II

h 0; u
I
1 k; u
II
1 k R
1
2
_ _
:
The complementary energy functional has the fol-
lowing form for a half unit cell, in a laminate subjected
to a tensile loading in the 0 direction
U
c

_
v
S
ijkl
r
ij
r
kl
dv; 12
where S
ijkl
are the local compliances, r
ij
is the admissible
stress eld and V is the volume of the half unit cell such
that jxj 6a, jyj 6b and jzj 6h. Hashin [22] showed that
for any elastic body containing cracks, the comple-
mentary energy can be expressed in the form
U
d
U
c
U
0
. All the details concerning the expressions
of the complementary energy and the /, w and u
functions are given in Appendix A.
The strain energy release rate G associated with the
initiation and development of damage for a given stress
state is dened by:
G
d
~
U
d
dA
_ _
r
; 13
where
~
U
d
is the strain energy of the whole laminate and
A is the damaged area. Let L
1
denote the length of the
laminate in the x direction, L
2
being its width in the y
direction. The strain energy of the whole laminate and
the numbers n and m of transverse and longitudinal
cracks, respectively, are such that
~
U
d
nmU
cel
; 14
where
n
L
1
2at
90
; m
L
2
2

bt
90
: 15
The intralaminar (transverse and longitudinal) cracked
area A
f
is such that
A
f
L
1
L
2
1
a
_

1

b
_
: 16
We will distinguish between the strain energy release
rates associated with dierent damage mechanisms. The
strain energy release rate associated with transverse
cracking is denoted G
FT
. The strain energy release rate
related with longitudinal cracking is denoted G
FL
. The
G
FT
and G
FL
expressions are:
G
FT

d
~
U
d
dA
f

d
~
U
d
da
da
dA
f
; G
FL

d
~
U
d
dA
f

d
~
U
d
d

b
d

b
dA
f
: 17
Using Eqs. (14)(17), the strain energy release rates
associated with transverse or longitudinal damage are
such that
G
FT

1
2

bt
2
90
U
cel
_
a
dU
cel
da
_
;
G
FL

1
2at
2
90
k
U
cel
_


b
dU
cel
d

b
_
:
18
3. Delamination modelling
Experimentally, local delamination can also appear in
some laminates [43,46]. According to the proposed
model, the delaminated area is supposed to have a tri-
angular shape (Figs. 3 and 4). This damage occurs at the
intersection of the longitudinal and transverse cracks.
Experimental results conrm that the initiation of local
delamination takes place at the 0/90 interface, near
transverse and longitudinal crack tips and the intensity
of the interlaminar stresses is enhanced close to the
crack planes. The damaged laminate can be represented
by the unit delaminated damaged cell displayed in
Fig. 3. In the unit delaminated damaged cell the del-
aminated area consists of two distinct areas at the 0/90
interface: In Fig. 4, area I is the undamaged area and
delaminated area II has a triangular shape. The dela-
minated area is dened by the d
x
and d
y
parameters. The
hypotheses and derivation are explained in [49]. In [47],
the authors used the same hypotheses in a multipartic-
ular model.
With the previous hypotheses, the stress eld in the
delamination area is such that
r
90
xx
r
90
yy
r
90
zz
r
90
xz
r
90
yz
0: 19
Therefore, the stress eld in the delamination area
(triangular area II) is such that
/x wy 1; /
0
x w
0
y 0; /
00
x w
00
y 0:
20
2 a
2 t90
t0
2 b
Transverse
Cracks
Longitudinal
Cracks
4 Triangular Delaminated
areas
Fig. 3. Unit damaged cell with transverse and longitudinal cracks and
triangular areas of the delaminated 0/90 interface.
J.-L. Rebiere, D. Gamby / Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250 2243
Taking into account the boundary conditions in the
triangular area, the stress eld is reduced to the single
component:
r
0
xx
x; y; z r
00
xx

r
090
xx
k
uz: 21
To summarise, when the three damage modes are
present, the stress eld has one non-zero component
only (21) in the delaminated zone. In the rest of the
laminate the stress eld is given by Eqs. (10) and (11).
Due to symmetry with respect to the laminate mid-
plane z 0, the complementary energy of the half unit
cell 0 < z < h, for a laminate subjected to traction
boundary conditions, is still dened by:
U
c

1
2
_
V
S
ijkl
r
ij
r
kl
dv; 22
where S
ijkl
are the local compliances, r
ij
is the admissible
stress eld and V is the volume of the half unit cell such
that jxj 6a, jyj 6b and jzj 6h.
The unit damaged cell, where the three damage modes
are present, is schematised in Fig. 3. The strain energy in
the unit cell is the sum of the strain energies in the non-
delaminated portion (area I) and in the delaminated
portion (triangular area II). In the non-delaminated por-
tions (area I), sub-regions are used for calculating the
energy. The strain energy expressions are detailed in [49].
In the non-delaminated region, the strain energy expres-
sion appears in Eq. (23). In the delaminated portion (area
II), the complementary energy is given by Eq. (24), using
the normal stress expression (21):
U
I
d

1
2
U
d
a;

b: U
d
a;

b

d
y
U
d
a

d
x
;

b
U
d
a

d
x
;

b

d
y
; 23
U
II
d

d
x
d
y
t
3
90
E
L
kr
00
2
xx
_
2r
00
xx
r
090
xx

r
090
2
xx
k
2
_
h
1
u
2
zdz
_
:
24
For a laminate degraded by the three damage modes,
the strain energy of the half unit cell is
U
cel
U
I
d
U
II
d
: 25
As in Section 2, pertaining to transverse cracking
damage, the strain energy release rate G associated with
the initiation and development of the delamination
damage for a given stress state is dened by:
G
d
~
U
d
dA
_ _
r
; 26
where
~
U
d
is the deformation energy of the whole lami-
nate, and A is the delaminated area. Let L
1
denote the
length of the laminate in the x direction, L
2
being its
width in the y direction.
The strain energy of the whole laminate is such that:
~
U
d
nmU
cel
: 27
The numbers n and m of transverse and longitudinal
cracks are dened in (15). The delaminated area A
d
is
such that:
A
d

d
x
;

d
y
A
d
L
1
L
2

d
x

d
y
2a

b
_ _
: 28
The strain energy release rates associated with de-
lamination in the x and y directions are denoted G
d
x
and
G
d
y
respectively. They mainly depend on the delami-
nated lengths d
x
and d
y
. When d
x
(respectively d
y
) alone
is varied, we get
G
dx

d
~
U
d
d

d
x
d

d
x
dA
d
; G
dy

d
~
U
d
d

d
y
d

d
y
dA
d
: 29
d
y
d
y
b-dy
b-dy
d
x
d
x
a-d
x
x
y
Area I
triangles
Area II
a-d
x
4 delaminated
Fig. 4. Schematic triangular areas of the delaminated 0/90 interface.
2244 J.-L. Rebiere, D. Gamby / Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250
From Eqs. (16), (25), (28), (29), we obtain the strain
energy release rates associated with delamination in the
x and y directions denoted G
d
x
and G
d
y
, respectively:
G
dx

1
2

d
y
t
2
90
dU
cel
d

d
x
; G
dy

1
2

d
x
t
2
90
dU
cel
d

d
y
: 30
4. Results
4.1. Initiation of the rst damage mode
The results of Table 1 show the inuence of the 90
ply thickness on the rst ply failure in a cross-ply lam-
inate as computed with the proposed model. Several
numerical simulations were achieved with other models
and the analyses of the results converge to the same
conclusion. It is easier to create transverse cracking in a
laminate containing thicker 90 layer. A lot of experi-
mental results, on cross-ply laminates submitted to axial
loading, show that during the loading progression, a
second damage mode usually appears after the trans-
verse cracking.
4.2. Initiation of the second damage mode
First of all, the second damage mode can succeed
transverse crack damage or coexist with it. This second
damage mode is generally delamination at the 0/90
interface or longitudinal matrix cracking in the 0 layers.
All the studies conducted on this subject prove that the
nature of the second damage mode is strongly inuenced
by the architecture of the laminate (ply thickness and
constraint parameter) and the nature of the laminate
system constituents (bre and matrix). When studying
the inuence of the damage process on the degradation
of the laminate mechanical properties, it is necessary to
propose a model which is able to predict the initiation
and the propagation of the dierent damage mode
during loading development. The numerical results dis-
played in Tables 2 and 3 give the mean strain value
necessary for the initiation of longitudinal matrix
cracking or delamination computed for a 0
2
; 90
n

s
laminate made of the carbon/epoxy T300/934 material
system. The numerical simulations pertaining to the
model are compared with experimental results from
Wang et al. [12] and the nite elements results of [12].
4.3. Thickness ply inuence on initiation of longitudinal
matrix cracking
The experimental results related to the ultimate fail-
ure of the 0
2
; 90
s
laminate (Table 2) show that the
second damage mode does not appear in this laminate.
For other types of laminates containing a more impor-
tant number of 90 plies, the initiation of a second
damage mode is observed. It can be longitudinal matrix
cracking or delamination. As is well known, the initia-
tion of delamination or longitudinal matrix cracking is
easier in a laminate containing a thick 90 layer. The
numerical results from the model are in good agreement
with the experimental results from Bailey et al. [50] who
studied the ply thickness inuence on the initiation of
longitudinal cracks in a glass/epoxy laminate. On Fig. 5,
numerical results from our model are compared with
experimental data from [50]. For a given thickness of the
0 layer, it is easier to create a longitudinal cracking
damage in a thick 90 layer (Fig. 5(a)). A similar remark
can be made for 0 plies. For a given thickness of the 90
layer, the risk to initiate a longitudinal cracking in-
creases with the 0 layer thickness (Fig. 5(b)).
4.4. Life prediction in [0
2
; 90
2
]
s
and [0
2
; 90
4
]
s
laminates
The deformation thresholds pertaining to the initia-
tion of the three damage modes are displayed in Figs. 6
and 7 for an equilibrated laminate 0
2
; 90
2

s
and in Figs.
8 and 9 for a 0
2
; 90
4

s
laminate. The numerical simula-
tions are achieved for a carbon/epoxy T300/934 system;
see Table 4 for the constant of the material. Once more,
it can be conclude that it is easier to damage a laminate
containing a thick 90 layer. The initiation of the three
damage modes appears later in the 0
2
; 90
2

s
laminate
than in the 0
2
; 90
2

s
laminate. In Fig. 7, we can observe
the initiation of delamination during the propagation of
the transverse cracking damage (Fig. 6). Before the ul-
timate failure of the specimen, longitudinal matrix
cracking appears in the 0 plies. At the end of the test,
Table 1
Mean stress value (MPa) at initiation of transverse matrix cracking
n in 0; 90
n
; 0 Model Experimental [12]
n 1 908 915
n 2 537 540
n 3 418 430
n 4 297 305
Table 2
Applied mean strain value e
0
% at initiation of longitudinal matrix
cracking in a 0
2
=90
n

s
carbon/epoxy T300/934 laminate system
n in 0
2
; 90
n

s
Model FEM [12] Experimental [12]
n 1 1.35 >1.2
n 2 0.98 1.05 0.92
n 4 0.74 0.78 <0.8
Table 3
Applied mean strain value e
0
% at delamination initiation in a
0
2
=90
n

s
carbon/epoxy T300/934 laminate system
n in 0
2
; 90
n

s
Model FEM [12] Experimental [12]
n 1 1.35 >1.2
n 2 0.95 1.09 >0.92
n 4 0.65 0.75 <0.8
J.-L. Rebiere, D. Gamby / Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250 2245
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2

0
(%)
C
r
a
c
k

D
e
n
s
i
t
y


(
c
m
-
1
)
Longitudinal Cracks
Transverse Cracks
Fig. 6. Damage mechanism in a 0
2
=90
2

s
carbon/epoxy T300/934
laminate: matrix cracking.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2

0
(%)
C
r
a
c
k

D
e
n
s
i
t
y


(
c
m
-
1
)
Longitudinal Cracks
Transverse Cracks
Fig. 8. Damage mechanism in a 0
2
=90
4

s
carbon/epoxy T300/934
laminate: matrix cracking.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2

0
(%)
D
e
l
a
m
i
n
a
t
i
o
n


(
m
m
)

Delamination width d
Delamination length d
x
y
Fig. 9. Damage mechanism in a 0
2
=90
4

s
carbon/epoxy T300/934
laminate: delamination in x and y directions.
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
0.5 1 1.5
t 0 (mm)
F
L
(
%
)
Experiment Bailey [50]
3D Model
Bailey [50]
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
0.50 0.75 1.20 1.25
t 90 (mm)
F
L

(
%
)
3D Model
Bailey [50]
Experiment
Bailey [50]
(a) (b)
Fig. 5. Mean strain value e
0
% at initiation of longitudinal cracking in a glass/epoxy laminate. (a) 0
2;5
=90
n

s
laminate with t
0
0:5 mm (b)
0
m
=90
2:5

s
laminate with t
90
0:5 mm.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2

0
(%)
D
e
l
a
m
i
n
a
t
i
o
n


(
m
m
)

Delamination width d
Delamination length d
y
x
Fig. 7. Damage mechanism in a 0
2
=90
2

s
carbon/epoxy T300/934
laminate: delamination in x and y directions.
2246 J.-L. Rebiere, D. Gamby / Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250
the longitudinal crack density is about 5 cm
1
for the
0
2
; 90
2

s
laminate and about 10 cm
1
for the 0
2
; 90
4

s
laminate. The delamination evolution is not the same for
the two laminates. In the 0
2
; 90
2

s
laminate, the evolu-
tion is dierent in the x and y directions. At the end of
the test, for this 0
2
; 90
2

s
laminate, the delaminated
length is 16 mm in the x direction and 10 mm in the y
direction (Fig. 7), contrary to the 0
2
; 90
4

s
laminate
where delaminated lengths are equivalent (Fig. 9).
5. Conclusion
Using the proposed energetic model, our objective
was to predict the occurrence of several damage mech-
anisms in cross-ply laminates. The beginning of the
damaging process is well described when compared to
Wangs experiments [12]. We propose some results about
the initiation and propagation of the dierent damage
modes, longitudinal matrix cracking in the 0 plies and
delamination. As an example, the lifes of an equilibrated
0
2
; 90
2

s
laminate and a 0
2
; 90
4

s
laminate have been
described and the successive damage mechanisms for
these laminates have been predicted. We have also been
able to bring out the propagation of transverse cracks
during the initiation of delamination, the development of
the triangular shape of delamination and the fact that the
delaminated length is not the same in the x and y direc-
tions of the laminate. Other examples, not presented
here, showed that the damage mechanism succession can
be dierent. The nature of the material system and the
laminate architecture, represented here by 90 and 0
layers thicknesses, are very important parameters.
Appendix A
U
c

_
v
S
ijkl
r
ij
r
kl
dv:
S
ijkl
are the local compliances, r
ij
is the admissible stress
eld and V is the volume of the half unit cell such that
jxj 6a, jyj 6b and jzj 6h.
U
d
U
c
U
o
;
where U
o
denotes the constant complementary energy of
the uncracked laminate, and U
c
is the variation of en-
ergy due to damage in the laminate. Using the density of
complementary energy W
k
in each layer, the energy
perturbations due to cracks can be written as:
U
c

_
V
90
W
90
dv
_
V
0
W
0
dv:
Substituting Eqs. (9) and (10) into these expressions, we
obtain:
U
c

1
2
r
2
0
t
3
90
_
a
a
_
b

b
A
0
k
2
x
/
2
_
2B
0
k
x
k
y
/w C
0
k
2
y
w
2
A
1
k
2
x
/
02
B
1
k
2
y
w
02
A
21
k
2
x
//
00
A
21
k
x
k
y
/w
00
B
12
k
x
k
y
w/
0
B
22
k
2
x
/
02
B
1
k
2
y
ww
0
C
01
k
2
x
/
002
C
02
k
2
y
w
002
C
03
k
x
k
y
w
00
/
00
_
dxdy
with
A
0

1
E
T

1
E
L
; A
0

m
TT
E
T
k
_

2
3
_

m
LT
E
L
2I
5
k
2
;
B
0

m
LT
E
L
1
_

I
3
k
2
_
; B
21
2
m
LT
E
L
k
_

1
6
_
2
m
TT
0
E
T
I
6
k
2
;
C
0

1
E
L

1
kE
L
; B
22

m
LT
E
L
k
_

2
3
_

m
TT
0
E
T
k
3
A
1

1
3G
TT
0

I
2
k
2
G
LT
; C
01

1
E
T
k
2
_

k
3

1
20
_

I
7
20k
2
E
T
;
B
1

1
3
1
G
LT
_

1
G
TT
0
_
; C
02

3k
3
15k
2
20k 8
60E
T
;
A
21

m
TT
0
E
T
R
_

1
6
_
2
m
LT
E
L
I
4
k
2
;
C
03

1
E
T
Rh
_

1
3
R
_

h
2
_

1
10
_

I
8
k
2
E
T
;
and
k
x

r
090
xx
r
0
; k
y

r
090
yy
r
0
;
/
0

o/
ox
; /
00

o
2
/
ox
2
; /
0

o/
ox
; /
00

o
2
/
ox
2
:
The parameters I
i
i 1; 8 are dened by:
I
1

_
h
1
u
2
zdz; I
2

_
h
1
u
I
2
zdz; I
3

_
h
1
uzdz;
I
4

_
h
1
uzu
II
zdz;
Table 4
Material constants for a T300/934 unidirectional ply [12]
Property SI unit
E
LL
144.8 GPa
E
TT
, E
zz
11.7 GPa
m
LT
, m
Lz
0.3
m
Tz
0.54
G
LT
, G
Lz
6.5 GPa
G
Tz
3.5 GPa
t, nominal ply thickness 0.132 mm
G
crf
228 J m
2
G
crd
158 J m
2
J.-L. Rebiere, D. Gamby / Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250 2247
I
5

_
h
1
uz

h z
2
dz; I
6

_
h
1
u
II
zdz;
I
7

_
h
1
u
II
2
zdz; I
8

_
h
1
u
II
z

h z
2
dz:
The EulerLagrange dierential equations are:
d
4
/
dx
4
p
1
d
2
/
dx
2
q
1
/
k
x
k
y
B
0
C
01
1
2

b
_
b

b
wydy 0;
d
4
w
dy
4
p
2
d
2
w
dy
2
q
2
w
k
x
k
y
B
0
C
02
1
2a
_
a
a
/xdx 0;
where
p
1

A
21
A
1
C
01
; q
1

A
0
C
01
; p
2

B
22
B
1
C
02
; q
2

C
0
C
02
;
/x D
1
f
1
x F
1
g
1
x m
1

w;
wy D
2
f
2
y F
2
g
2
y m
2

/:
The constants D
i
, F
i
,

/ and

w are such that:
D
1

1 m
1

wg
0
1
a
f
1
ag
0
1
a f
0
1
ag
1
a
;
F
1

1 m
1

wf
0
1
a
f
1
ag
0
1
a f
0
1
ag
1
a
;
D
2

1 m
2

/g
0
2

b
f
2

bg
0
2

b f
0
2

bg
2

b
;
F
2

1 m
2

/f
0
2

b
f
2

bg
0
2

b f
0
2

bg
2

b
;

/
x
1
m
1
1 x
1
x
2
1 m
1
m
2
1 x
1
1 x
2

w
x
2
m
2
1 x
2
x
1
1 m
1
m
2
1 x
1
1 x
2

;
and
m
1

k
y
B
0
k
x
A
0
; m
2

k
x
B
0
k
y
C
0
:
The functions f
i
, g
i
and x
i
depend of the signe:
4q
1
p
2
i
i 1; 2
If 4q
1
Pp
2
i
f
i
u
i
cosha
i
u
i
cosb
i
u
i
;
g
i
u
i
sinha
i
u
i
sinb
i
u
i
;
x
i

2a
i
b
i
cosh2a
i
r
i
cos2b
i
r
i

r
i
a
2
i
b
2
i
a
i
sin2b
i
r
i
b
i
sinh2a
i
r
i

:
If 4q
1
6p
2
i
with p
i
< 0:
f
i
u
i
cosha
i
u
i
;
g
i
u
i
coshb
i
u
i
;
x
i

b
2
i
a
2
i
sinha
i
r
i
sinhb
i
r
i

a
i
b
i
r
i
b
i
cosha
i
r
i
sinhb
i
r
i
a
i
sinha
i
r
i
coshb
i
r
i

;
where:
a
i
q
1=4
i
cos
h
i
2
_ _
; b
i
q
1=4
i
sin
h
i
2
_ _
;
h
i
Arctg

4q
i
p
2
i
1

; a
i
; b
i

p
i
2
1

1
4q
i
p
2
i
_ _

_
with u
1
x, u
2
y, r
1
a, r
2


b and i 1, 2.
A.1. Model I
The function uz can be taken in the form:
uz kD
cosh D

h z
sinhDk
;
u
I
z k
sinh D

h z
sinhDk
;
u
II
z k
cosh D

h z 1
DsinhDk
;
the parameter R is such that:
R
1
2

cosh Dz

h 1
DsinhDk
:
This function is independent of the damage state of
the laminate. The problem is thus reduced to mini-
mizing a function with only one unknown parameter
U
c
D.
A.2. Model II
In order to analyse the inuence of function uz on
the stress eld distribution in the unit cell, this function
is taken in the form of a second order polynomial in z
with only one unknown parameter D. Taking into ac-
count the boundary and continuity conditions, the
function uz is such that:
uz
3D
k
2
z

h
2
1 D;
u
I
z
D
k
2
z

h
3
1 Dz

h;
u
II
z
D
4k
2
z

h
4
1 Dz

h
2
:
The related parameter R is now: R
1k
2

Dk
4
.
As in Model 1, the determination of uz is reduced
to minimizing a function of only one parameter
U
c
D.
2248 J.-L. Rebiere, D. Gamby / Composites Science and Technology 64 (2004) 22392250
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