Composite Damage (CompDam) Progressive Damage Analysis Software

About this technology

Overview

The Composite Damage (CompDam) Progressive Damage Analysis software is developed for the prediction of damage onset, damage progression and structural collapse of structures manufactured of fiber-reinforced plastic laminates. The emphasis has been on development of an analysis capability for application at the structural level. Hence, modeling of damage progression is undertaken at the meso-scale, where each ply of a laminate is represented as a homogenous orthotropic continuum. All of the composite damage mechanisms (matrix cracking, fiber breaking and kinking, and delamination) and their interactions are represented. The CompDam software is implemented as user written subroutines for use with the Abaqus commercial finite element code. Input for CompDam includes ply-level material properties, and interface properties obtained from standard material characterization tests. The output from CompDam includes damage variables associated with each damage mode. These damage variables describe the evolution of damage and are used to generate updated structural constitutive matrices and load redistribution as damage evolves.