Multi-scale modelling of damage progression in FRC laminates – applications of DEM

Abstract

As a natural progress of the research in the area of modeling damage at microscopic scales, a discrete element method (DEM) has been proposed to simulate the damage progression in FRC laminates. DEM has been used to study the interfacial debonding, transverse cracking, delamination, and transverse cracking and delamination in FRC laminates. The purpose of this research is not only to validate the application of DEM in terms of its advantages in the simulation of damage progression and the prediction of cracking density and stiffness reduction, but also to highlight the potential of DEM in the future research application for composite damage mechanism, composite material design and optimization.