Stress Analysis of Composite Laminate Using X-FEM

The X-FEM proposed by Belytschko et al. uses interpolation functions based on the concept of partition of unity and considers discontinuity of displacement fields near a free surface and a crack independently of the finite element mesh. This paper describes the application of X-FEM to stress analyses of composite laminates. The interpolation functions of plate and solid finite elements used in three-dimensional analysis are extended to perform static and eigenvalue analyses for natural frequency and buckling load of composite laminates with an open hole and an interlaminar delamination. It was shown that the fairly good agreement between X-FEM and the conventional FEM were obtained. X-FEM can model the discontinuity at free surfaces much easier than conventional FEM. Using such advantages can help us to perform adequate considerations for damage evaluation of the composite materials.