Mixed-Mode Debonding of a
L ami na t e d C o m posi t e
Introduction
Interfacial failure by delamination or debonding is one of the main failure modes of
laminate structures. Interfacial failure can be simulated with a Cohesive Zone Model
(CZM). A key ingredient of a cohesive zone model is a traction-separation law that
describes the softening in the cohesive zone near the delamination tip. This example
shows the implementation of a CZM with a bilinear traction-separation law
implemented within the Thin Elastic Layer feature of the Solid Mechanics interface in
COMSOL Multiphysics. The capabilities of the CZM to predict mixed-mode
softening onset and delamination propagation are demonstrated in a model of
mixed-mode bending of a composite material.
Model Definition
COHESIVE ZONE MODEL (CZM)
The CZM implemented in this model is detailed in Ref. 1. The model is used to predict
crack propagation at the interface of a laminated composite beam under mixed-mode
loading. The material properties needed for this constitutive model are summarized in
Table 1.
Property
Symbol
Value
Ns
80 MPa
Shear strength
Ss
100 MPa
Penalty stiffness
Kp
106 N/mm3
GIc
969 J/m2
GIIc
1719 J/m2
2.284
TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF THE CZM INTERFACE. THE VALUES ARE FOR AS4/PEEK.
The CZM considered here uses a bilinear traction-separation law. Traction increases
linearly with a stiffness Kp until the opening crack reaches a failure initiation
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displacement u0. When the crack opens beyond u0 the material softens irreversibly and
the stiffness decreases as a function of the damage parameter d. The material fails once
the stiffness has decreased to zero. This happens at the ultimate displacement uf.
The values of u0 and uf depend on whether the separation displacement is normal
(mode I) or tangential (mode II and III) to an interface. In the following equations,
the index I refers to mode I delamination, II to mode II and m to mixed-mode.
The failure initiation displacement for mode I loading is
NS
u I0 = -------KP
(1)
SS
u II0 = ------KP
(2)
The ultimate displacement is determined from the fracture toughness or critical energy
release for each mode:
2G IC
u If = -------------NS
(3)
2G IIC
u IIf = ---------------SS
(4)
Let uI be the normal and uII the total tangential relative displacement at the interface.
The mixed mode relative displacement is defined as
um =
u I + u II
which is valid for uI > 0. The mode mixity is defined as the ratio
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(5)
u II
= -------uI
(6)
With the help of this definition, mixed mode damage initiation is governed by
2
1+
u m0 = u I0 u II0 -----------------------------------2
2
u II0 + ( u I0 )
(7)
(8)
The stiffness at the laminate interface depends on the displacement history. In this
CZM, the history is captured with only one variable, the maximum mixed-mode
displacement umax at each point on the interface. With this maximum mixed-mode
displacement, the damage evolution function can be defined as
u mf ( u max u m0 )
d = -------------------------------------------u max ( u mf u m0 )
(9)
K II
K P u max u m0
0 u max > u mf
(10)
K uI > 0
K I = II
KP uI 0
(11)
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Fm
Roller edge
Symmetry boundaries
Fe
Initial crack
Roller edge
Figure 1: The model geometry is a beam of length lb, height hb and width wb. Due to
symmetry only half of the beam is drawn and a Symmetry boundary condition is applied.
There is an initial crack of length cl halfway through the thickness. The beam is supported
at the outermost bottom edges. A mixed-mode bending load is the result of forces applied
to the top edges at the cracked end and at the center of the beam.
The geometry of the test specimen is illustrated in Figure 1. A beam cracked along a
ply interface halfway through its thickness. The initial crack length is cl. The material
properties are those of AS4/PEEK unidirectional laminates. The orthotropic linear
elastic properties are listed in Table 2, assuming that the longitudinal direction is
aligned with the global x-direction. The material properties of the cohesive interface
are listed in Table 1.
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Property
Symbol
Value
Youngs modulus
EX
122.7 GPa
Youngs modulus
EY=EZ
10.1 GPa
Poissons ratio
YZ
0.45
Property
Symbol
Value
Poissons ratio
XY=XZ
0.25
Shear modulus
GYZ
3.7 GPa
Shear modulus
GXY=GXZ
5.5 GPa
The beam is supported on the bottom at its outer edges. A lever that sits on top of the
beam applies a load. The lever is also attached to the cracked end and swivels around
a contact area at the center of the beam. The lever is pushed down at the opposite free
end, thereby simultaneously applying mode I and mode II loads on the test specimen.
Arbitrary ratios of mixed-mode loading can be adjusted by varying the length of the
lever ll.
In this model, the lever is omitted. Instead, the forces that the lever transmits to the
beam are applied directly. A pulling force Fe is acting on the cracked side of the beam.
At the center, a force Fm pushes down. The desired mixed-mode ratio mm regulates
the ratio of their magnitudes lr via
6m m + 3m m ( 1 m m )
l r = 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 + 9m m + 8 3m m ( 1 m m )
(12)
Further details on the background of the equation above can be found in Ref. 1 and
Ref. 2.
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Figure 2: The Von Mises stress distribution at the last computation step.
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Figure 3: Plot showing the health of the laminate interface. The debonded part is shown in
red, the intact part in green.
One of the outputs of the MMB test is a load-displacement curve. Both load and
displacement are measured at the end point of the lever that is used to apply the load
to the test specimen. Since the lever is not explicitly modeled, the load-displacement
data has to be deduced from the simulation results. Details of the analysis are contained
in Ref. 1 and Ref. 2 with the following result.
The force Flp at the load point of the lever can be determined from the load applied
to the cracked edge in the model Fe and the lengths of the test beam lb and load lever
ll:
lb 2
F lp = F e -----------ll
(13)
The length of the load lever above depends on the desired mode mixture mm:
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1 mm
1
( l b 2 ) --- 3 ------------------- + 1
m
2
m
l l = --------------------------------------------------------------------1 mm
1
3 --- 3 -------------------
mm
2
(14)
Note, that ll measures the length from the center of the test specimen to the free end
of the load lever.
The displacement at the load point ulp is computed from the mode I opening at the
cracked edge uIe and the z-displacement at the center of the beam wc according to
3l l l b 2
ll + lb 2
u lp = ------------------------- u Ie + ---------------------- ( ( w c ) + u Ie 4 )
4 ( lb 2 )
lb 2
(15)
The resulting load-displacement curve is shown in Figure 4. The curve confirms what
Figure 3 displayed. The maximal load that the beam with the initial crack can carry is
exceeded and delamination propagation occurs.
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Cylindrical Shell model example. Briefly, you add a Global Equation to your model
that adjusts the magnitude of the force on the edges until a desired load-point
displacement is reached.
Reference
1. P.P. Camanho, C.G. Davila, and M.F. De Moura, Numerical Simulation of
Mixed-mode Progressive Delamination in Composite Materials., Journal of
composite materials 37.16 (2003): 1415-1438.
2. J.R. Reeder, and J.R. Crews Jr., Mixed-mode bending method for delamination
testing., AiAA Journal 28.7 (1990): 1270-1276.
3. Postbuckling Analysis of a Hinged Cylindrical Shell, COMSOL Multiphysics.
Modeling Instructions
From the File menu, choose New.
NEW
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Load all model parameters from a file containing parameters for the geometry, material
properties and boundary conditions.
Parameters
1 On the Model toolbar, click Parameters.
2 In the Settings window for Parameters, locate the Parameters section.
3 Click Load from File.
4 Browse to the models Model Library folder and double-click the file
cohesive_zone_debonding_parameter.txt.
GEOMETRY 1
Block 1 (blk1)
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Block.
2 In the Settings window for Block, locate the Size section.
3 In the Width text field, type cl.
4 In the Depth text field, type wb/2.
5 In the Height text field, type hb.
6 Click to expand the Layers section. In the table, enter the following settings:
Layer name
Thickness (m)
Layer 1
hb/2
Block 2 (blk2)
1 Right-click Component 1 (comp1)>Geometry 1>Block 1 (blk1) and choose Duplicate.
2 In the Settings window for Block, locate the Size section.
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Block 3 (blk3)
1 Right-click Component 1 (comp1)>Geometry 1>Block 2 (blk2) and choose Duplicate.
2 In the Settings window for Block, locate the Size section.
3 In the Width text field, type lb/2.
4 Locate the Position section. In the x text field, type lb/2.
5 Right-click Component 1 (comp1)>Geometry 1>Block 3 (blk3) and choose Build
Selected.
6 Click the Zoom Extents button on the Graphics toolbar.
Load all variables for the CZM and load point from files.
Variables 1
1 On the Model toolbar, click Variables and choose Local Variables.
2 In the Settings window for Variables, type Cohesive Zone Model in the Label text
field.
3 Locate the Geometric Entity Selection section. From the Geometric entity level list,
choose Boundary.
4 Select Boundaries 6, 15, and 24 only.
5 Click Create Selection.
text field.
7 Click OK.
8 In the Settings window for Variables, locate the Variables section.
9 Click Load from File.
10 Browse to the models Model Library folder and double-click the file
cohesive_zone_debonding_constitutive_law.txt.
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Variables 2
1 On the Model toolbar, click Variables and choose Local Variables.
2 In the Settings window for Variables, type Load Point Variables in the Label text
field.
3 Locate the Variables section. Click Load from File.
4 Browse to the models Model Library folder and double-click the file
cohesive_zone_debonding_load_point_variables.txt.
The following integration coupling operators make values of the selected points
globally available.
Integration 1 (intop1)
1 In the Settings window for Integration, type Integration Edge in the Label text
field.
2 Locate the Source Selection section. From the Geometric entity level list, choose
Point.
3 Select Point 2 only.
4 Locate the Advanced section. From the Frame list, choose Material (X, Y, Z).
Integration 2 (intop2)
1 On the Definitions toolbar, click Component Couplings and choose Integration.
2 In the Settings window for Integration, type Integration Center in the Label text
field.
3 Locate the Source Selection section. From the Geometric entity level list, choose
Point.
4 Select Point 15 only.
5 Locate the Advanced section. From the Frame list, choose Material (X, Y, Z).
MATERIALS
Create a new material containing the orthotropic linear elastic properties of AS4/
PEEK.
Material 1 (mat1)
1 On the Materials toolbar, click Blank Material.
2 In the Settings window for Material, type AS4/PEEK in the Label text field.
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3 Click to expand the Material properties section. Locate the Material Properties
Name
Value
Unit
Property
group
Young's modulus
Evector
{122.7e9,10.1e9,10.1e9}
Pa
Orthotropic
Poisson's ratio
nuvector
Orthotropic
Shear modulus
Gvector
N/m
Orthotropic
Density
rho
1570
kg/m
Basic
section.
3 From the Solid model list, choose Orthotropic.
stiffness*solid.uspring2_tel1
if(u_I<0, Kp*solid.uspring3_tel1,
stiffness*solid.uspring3_tel1)
Symmetry 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Symmetry.
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Edge Load 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Edges and choose Edge Load.
2 In the Settings window for Edge Load, type Load on cracked Edge (Fe) in the
Label text field.
3 Select Edge 7 only.
4 Locate the Force section. From the Load type list, choose Total force.
5 Specify the Ftot vector as
0
force
Edge Load 2
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Edges and choose Edge Load.
2 In the Settings window for Edge Load, type Load on middle Edge (Fm) in the
Label text field.
3 Select Edge 33 only.
4 Locate the Force section. From the Load type list, choose Total force.
5 Specify the Ftot vector as
0
-lr*force
Prescribed Displacement 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Edges and choose Prescribed Displacement.
2 In the Settings window for Prescribed Displacement, locate the Edge Selection
section.
3 Click Paste Selection.
4 In the Paste Selection dialog box, type 2, 41 in the Selection text field.
5 Click OK.
6 In the Settings window for Prescribed Displacement, locate the Prescribed
Displacement section.
7 Select the Prescribed in z direction check box.
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Prescribed Displacement 2
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Points and choose Prescribed Displacement.
2 Select Point 1 only.
3 In the Settings window for Prescribed Displacement, locate the Prescribed
Displacement section.
4 Select the Prescribed in x direction check box.
5 In the Model Builder windows toolbar, click the Show button and select Advanced
Physics Options in the menu.
This is to make the Global Equations feature visible. Add that next to control the
applied load with a monotonically increasing parameter.
Global Equations 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Global and choose Global Equations.
2 In the Settings window for Global Equations, locate the Global Equations section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:
Name
f(u,ut,utt,t) (1)
force
disp-u_lp
4 Locate the Units section. Find the Dependent variable quantity subsection. From the
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) click Boundary ODEs and
DAEs (bode).
2 In the Settings window for Boundary ODEs and DAEs, locate the Boundary
Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Cohesive Boundaries.
4 In the Model Builder windows toolbar, click the Show button and select Discretization
in the menu.
This step makes the Discretization settings of all physics visible. The CZM
constitutive variables should be evaluated at integration points inside elements. You
achieve that with the following settings.
5 Click to expand the Discretization section. From the Shape function type list, choose
Gauss point data.
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Distributed ODE 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Boundary ODEs and DAEs
(bode) click Distributed ODE 1.
2 In the Settings window for Distributed ODE, locate the Source Term section.
3 In the f text field, type 0.
4 Locate the Damping or Mass Coefficient section. In the da text field, type 0.
Initial Values 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Boundary ODEs and DAEs
(bode) click Initial Values 1.
2 In the Settings window for Initial Values, locate the Initial Values section.
3 In the umaxold text field, type 1e-12.
Initial Values 2
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Initial Values.
2 In the Settings window for Initial Values, type Initial Values Debonded in the
Label text field.
3 Select Boundary 6 only.
4 Locate the Initial Values section. In the umaxold text field, type u_I_f*10.
This value certainly exceeds the mixed-mode ultimate displacement. This part of the
laminate interface is therefore debonded.
Algebraic Equation 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Algebraic Equation.
2 In the Settings window for Algebraic Equation, locate the Boundary Selection
section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Cohesive Boundaries.
4 Locate the Algebraic Equation section. In the f text field, type
nojac(u_max)-u_max_old.
MESH 1
Mapped 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Mesh 1 click Mapped 1.
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Distribution 1
1 Right-click Component 1 (comp1)>Mesh 1>Mapped 1 and choose Distribution.
2 Select Edge 20 only.
3 In the Settings window for Distribution, locate the Distribution section.
4 In the Number of elements text field, type 4.
Size 1
1 Right-click Mapped 1 and choose Size.
2 In the Settings window for Size, locate the Element Size section.
3 From the Predefined list, choose Extremely fine.
4 Click the Custom button.
5 Locate the Element Size Parameters section. Select the Maximum element size check
box.
6 In the associated text field, type 0.00204/2.
7 Click the Build Selected button.
8 On the Mesh toolbar, click Swept.
Distribution 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Mesh 1 right-click Swept
1 and choose Distribution.
2 In the Settings window for Distribution, locate the Distribution section.
3 In the Number of elements text field, type 2.
4 Click the Build All button.
STUDY 1
Configure the solver and enable tracking the history of the maximum mixed-mode
displacement.
Step 1: Stationary
1 In the Model Builder window, under Study 1 click Step 1: Stationary.
2 In the Settings window for Stationary, locate the Study Settings section.
3 Select the Include geometric nonlinearity check box.
4 Click to expand the Study extensions section. Locate the Study Extensions section.
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5 Click Add.
6 In the table, enter the following settings:
Parameter name
disp
range(0,1.0e-4,0.006)
Parameter unit
Solution 1
1 On the Study toolbar, click Show Default Solver.
2 In the Model Builder window, expand the Solution 1 node.
3 In the Model Builder window, expand the Study 1>Solver Configurations>Solution
1>Stationary Solver 1 node, then click Parametric 1.
4 In the Settings window for Parametric, click to expand the Continuation section.
5 From the Predictor list, choose Constant.
6 Right-click Study 1>Solver Configurations>Solution 1>Stationary Solver 1>Parametric
1 and choose Previous Solution.
With the following steps, you set up u_max_old to hold the solution of the previous
computation step.
7 In the Settings window for Previous Solution, locate the Previous Solution section.
8 Under Variables, click Add.
9 In the Add dialog box, select Dependent variable u_max_old (comp1.u_max_old) in the
Variables list.
10 In the Variables list, select Dependent variable u_max_old (comp1.u_max_old).
11 Click OK.
12 In the Model Builder window, click Study 1.
13 In the Settings window for Study, locate the Study Settings section.
14 Clear the Generate default plots check box.
You will create your own results plots after the solution.
15 On the Study toolbar, click Compute.
RESULTS
Create plots for the von Mises stress distribution, the state of debonding at the
interface and the load-displacement curve.
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Results node.
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Data Sets
First add selections to the data sets in preparation of the stress plot.
1 On the Results toolbar, click Selection.
2 In the Settings window for Selection, locate the Geometric Entity Selection section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Domain.
4 Select Domains 1, 3, and 5 only.
5 In the Model Builder window, under Results>Data Sets right-click Study 1/Solution 1
3D Plot Group 1
1 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Stress (solid) in the Label text
field.
2 On the 3D plot group toolbar, click Volume.
Stress (solid)
1 In the Model Builder window, under Results>Stress (solid) click Volume 1.
2 In the Settings window for Volume, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type solid.mises.
4 From the Unit list, choose MPa.
5 Right-click Results>Stress (solid)>Volume 1 and choose Deformation.
6 In the Settings window for Deformation, locate the Scale section.
7 Select the Scale factor check box.
8 In the associated text field, type 1.
9 Right-click Volume 1 and choose Duplicate.
10 In the Settings window for Volume, locate the Data section.
11 From the Data set list, choose Study 1/Solution 1 (2).
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12 Click to expand the Inherit style section. Locate the Inherit Style section. From the
Plot list, choose Volume 1.
13 On the 3D plot group toolbar, click Plot.
14 Click the Go to Default 3D View button on the Graphics toolbar.
15 On the Model toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 3D Plot Group.
Next, add a plot showing the state of debonding at the laminate interface.
3D Plot Group 2
1 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Interface health in the Label
text field.
2 On the 3D plot group toolbar, click Surface.
Interface health
1 In the Model Builder window, under Results>Interface health click Surface 1.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type u_max>u_m_f.
4 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Color table list, choose Traffic.
This choice plots the debonded part in red while the healthy part remains green.
5 Click the Go to Default 3D View button on the Graphics toolbar.
6 On the Model toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 1D Plot Group.
The following plot corresponds to the load-displacement output of the MMB test.
1D Plot Group 3
1 In the Settings window for 1D Plot Group, type Load-displacement curve in the
Label text field.
Load-displacement curve
1 On the 1D plot group toolbar, click Global.
2 In the Settings window for Global, locate the y-Axis Data section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:
Expression
Unit
2*F_lp
Description
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Unit
Description
2*F_lp
Load
5 Locate the x-Axis Data section. From the Parameter list, choose Expression.
6 In the Expression text field, type u_lp.
7 From the Unit list, choose mm.
8 Click to expand the Legends section. Clear the Show legends check box.
9 On the 1D plot group toolbar, click Plot.
Derived Values
1 On the Results toolbar, click Global Evaluation.
Finally, evaluate the maximal load that this beam can carry under this loading
condition.
2 In the Settings window for Global Evaluation, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type 2*F_lp.
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