Implementation of a micro-meso approach for progressive damage analysis of composite laminates

The mismatch of ply orientations in composite laminates can cause high interlaminar stress concentrations near the free edges. Evaluation of these interlaminar stresses and their role in the progressive damage analysis of laminates is desirable. Recently, the authors developed a new method to relate the physically based micromechanics approach with the meso-scale CDM considering matrix cracking and induced delamination. In this paper, the developed method is applied for the analysis of edge effects in various angle-ply laminates such as [10/−10]2s, [30/−30]2s and [45/−45]2s and comparing the results with available traditional CDM and experimental results. It is shown that the obtained stress-strain behaviors of laminates are in good agreement with the available experimental results and even in better agreement than the traditional CDM results. Variations of the stresses and stiffness components through the laminate thickness and near the free edges are also computed and compared with the available CDM results.