Analysis of damage development in CFRP notched coupons with energy-based multi-axial failure data

A methodology that uses multi-axial testing and dissipated energy (DE) to characterise the mechanical behaviour of laminated composite materials has been implemented into an analysis approach. The goal of this approach is to quantify the damage development on a continuum basis and eventually relate this damage to the constitutive behaviour of the material. The approach was implemented into a commercial finite element package with a custom user subroutine. Doublenotch characterisation specimens and open hole tension coupons were assessed. DE was predicted well in tension and in-plane rotation cases apart from a pure shear case where DE was excessive. DE magnitude was satisfactory in the open hole case and damage propagation well represented. Future work will involve advancing the technique to include DEdependent constitutive modelling.