Application of a damage mechanics model for predicting the impact responseof composite materials

A plane-stress continuum damage mechanics (CDM) based model for composite m aterials is implemented in the non-linear finite element code, LS-DYNA3D an d its predictive capability is evaluated by carrying out a series of numeri cal simulations involving impact of laminated composite plates. The perform ance of the model relative to that of an existing model in LS-DYNA3D is ass essed by comparing the computed results with instrumented impact test resul ts. It is demonstrated that a CDM based approach offers a versatile tool fo r predicting damage progression in composite structures, however, the param eters used in such models are often non-physical and difficult to character ize. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ail rights reserved.