Reconstruction of the Mode-I Traction-Separation Law of Cohesive Model for Composite Materials

doi:10.3901/JME.2025.24.109

Abstract

Abstract: Cohesive model is widely used to simulate delamination in composite materials. The most crucial parameters for the cohesive model are the interfacial strength, fracture toughness and the shape of the traction-separation law. Although the effect of the interfacial strength and fracture toughness were extensively reported, the extraction method for the shape of the traction-separation curve is not fully explored, which has significant effect on the simulation results when non-linear damage mechanisms are involved. The measurement of the traction-separation law requires special-purpose equipment such as digital image correlation (DIC), and there is a lack of testing standard. In this work, a reconstruction method for the mode-I traction-separation curve is proposed. Firstly, a finite element model is built to iteratively update the crack opening displacement (COD), which is then used to calculate the strain energy release rate (SERR) of the cohesive zone using J-integral. Secondly, the analytical solution for the double cantilever beam is used, and a SERR equilibrium is established based on Dugdale’s condition. Finally, a reconstruction algorithm based on gradient descent is proposed to calculate the traction-separation curve. The proposed method only requires the load-displacement data of the DCB test configuration as input without the need to physically measure the COD using DIC. Validations are conducted using virtual experiments to test the effectiveness of the proposed method with exponential, trapezoidal and multi-linear shaped traction-separation laws as target. Parametric studies regarding the load-displacement data size, mesh size of the finite element model and measurement noise are also conducted.

Key words: cohesive model, traction-separation law, double cantilever beam, fiber-reinforced compo-sites, delamination simulation

CLC Number:

TB332
TB121

TAO Chongcong, ZHANG Chao, JI Hongli, QIU Jinhao. Reconstruction of the Mode-I Traction-Separation Law of Cohesive Model for Composite Materials[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2025, 61(24): 109-117.

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