Characterization and analysis of delamination fracture in composites: An overview of developments from 1990 to 2001

Abstract

Delamination is a major failure mode in laminated composites and has received much research attention. A huge amount of literature has been published on this subject, resulting in considerable improvement in our understanding of delamination behavior. A rather comprehensive review paper was published by Garg in 1988. That paper contains 136 references from 1971 to 1988, a period spanning roughly two decades. A more recent survey by Pagano and Schoeppner contains critical reviews of many selected papers, especially the pioneering works on delamination research. An overview of Russian and Soviet literature on this subject is also given by Bolotin. The present paper aims to review major developments in the analysis and characterization of buckling driven delamination from 1990 to the present. Its abridged version was presented in a plenary lecture at the 13th International Conference on Composite Materials, Beijing. Particular emphasis is placed on the application of fracture mechanics methods in the analysis of delamination. The question of the extent of fracture mechanics’ success in characterizing delamination, both in laboratory-based specimens and in more realistic structural composite components, is discussed. Some recent numerical formulations for efficient computational modeling and analysis of delaminations are also reviewed. This review lists 270 major works covering a period of about a decade, indicating that there is still considerable research interest and activity in this field.