Analysis of energy release rate for composite delaminated cylindrical shells subjected to axial compression

In this paper, the postbuckling governing equations and the analytical expression of the energy release rates associated with delamination growth in a compression-loaded cylindrical shell are derived by using the variational principle of moving boundary and the Griffith fracture criterion. The finite difference method is used to generate the postbuckling solutions of the delaminated cylindrical shells, and with these solutions, the values of the energy release rates are determined. In simulational examples, the effects of a wide range of parameters, such as delamination sizes and depths, boundary conditions, geometrical parameters, material properties and laminate stacking sequences on the energy release rates of axisymmetrical laminated cylindrical shells are intensively discussed.The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.