GLOBAL LOCAL ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE PLATES WITH CRACKS/

This paper presents a simple and accurate global-local method to calcu late the static response of simply supported, composite plates with sm all cracks. The approach primarily involves two steps. In the first st ep a global approach, the Ritz method, is used to calculate the respon se of the structure. Displacement based Ritz functions for the plate w ithout the crack are augmented with a perturbation function, which is accurate for isotropic plates only, to account for the crack. The Ritz solution does not accurately satisfy the natural boundary conditions at the crack boundary. Therefore, a second step, local in nature, is t aken in which a small area in the vicinity of the crack and encompassi ng other points of singularities, is discretized using a fine finite e lement mesh. The displacement boundary conditions for the local region are obtained from the global Ritz analysis. The methodology is applie d for the local model including the crack. The proposed approach resul ted in accurate prediction of stresses, with 85% savings in computatio nal time and 92% in data storage for the analysis of composite flat pa nels. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved.