Analysis of the free-edge effect in composite laminates by the boundary finite element method

Because of the risk of delamination due to high interlaminar stresses in the vicinity of free edges of composite laminates, there is a strong interest in efficient methods for the analysis of this free-edge effect. By the example of a symmetric [0°/90°]_s cross-ply laminate, the Boundary Finite Element Method is presented as a very efficient numerical method, which combines the advantages of the finite element method and the boundary element method. Analogously to the boundary element method, only the boundary is discretized, while the element formulation is finite element based. The resultant stress field is shown to be in very good agreement qualitatively and quantitatively with the comparative finite element analysis. Submitted to the 11th International Conference on Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, June 11–15, 2000). Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 355–366, March–April, 2000.     

Numerical simulation of rheological processes in hardening plastics under stress control

The paper concerns the simulation of rheological processes in hardening plastics (resins) under stress control. It is assumed that the resins work in the glassy state, under normal conditions, and the rheological processes are quasi-static and isothermal. The reduced stress levels do not exceed 30% of the instantaneous tensile strength. A resin is modelled as a homogeneous, isotropic, linearly viscoelastic material. The HWKK/H rheological model, developed recently by the author, is used. Short-term, medium-term, and long-term shear strain components are considered and described by one fractional and two normal exponential functions as the stress history (memory) functions. A novel algorithm for the numerical simulation of rheological processes in resins has been developed, which is unified for all stress history functions in the HWKK/H model. The algorithm employs the Boltzmann superposition principle, a virtual table for the classic creep process, and a high-rank Gaussian quadrature. The stress function is approximated with a stair case function. The constitutive equations governing the HWKK/H model are trans formed into an algebraic form suitable for algorithmization. The problem of quasi-exact calculation of the double-improper integral resulting from the fractional exponential function is solved effectively. The algorithm has been tested successfully on selected loading programs of unidirectional tension of epoxide. Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 201–212, March–April, 2007.