Progressive damage modeling in open hole composite laminates with ultrasound-informed drilling-induced delamination

•Novel method using ultrasound to characterize ply-by-ply delamination of drilling induced damage.•Incorporating NDT information of damage into the model finite element geometry.•Predicting fiber–matrix failure and delamination within the finite element simulation.•Comparison of strain field between DIC and finite element simulation for validation. Insertion of fasteners, often used in aerospace and automotive industries, requires drilling that induces non-uniform delamination between lamina of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Understanding the effect of drilling-induced delamination on the mechanical performance and associated damage mechanisms (progressive damage and failure) is critical to ensure joining integrity. The present work develops an ultrasound testing (UT) method to quantify the drilling-induced delamination at each individual ply interface for CFRP laminates. We then develop a mesoscale finite element (FE) model of an open hole tension specimen by incorporating the UT-obtained drilling-induced delamination at each interface. This delamination is modeled using cohesive zone elements with a bilinear traction-separation law with progressive damage in each ply modeled using the 3D Hashin along with a progressive damage model. Our FE model, with UT-informed delamination, accurately predicts experimental observations of the stress concentration around the hole, damage progression, and open hole tension strength.