Mesh-adapted stress analysis of multilayered plates using a layerwise model

Lucille Salha (1) , Jeremy Bleyer (1) , Karam Sab (1) , Joanna Bodgi (2)

1 NAVIER UMR 8205 - Laboratoire Navier
2 USJ - Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth

This paper proposes a new finite-element modelling of a recent layerwise model for multilayered plates. This layerwise model is built from a specific 3D stress-field expansion along the thickness direction and involves, in particular, interlaminar transverse shear and out-of-plane stresses as generalized stresses. Its main feature is that 3D equilibrium equations and free-edge boundary conditions are directly taken into account into the stress-based construction of the model. A dual displacement-based finite-element discretization is implemented using the FEniCS software package and a remeshing strategy is proposed based on a novel error indicator. The error indicator is built based on the 3D stress field directly deduced from the layerwise generalized stresses and compared to a reconstructed stress field based on the model generalized displacements. The proposed error indicator is shown to identify the most critical parts of a laminate structure associated with complex 3D stress fields such as boundaries or stress concentration/singularity regions (near free-edges or delamination fronts). Through the combination of thickness discretization and in-plane mesh refinement in regions of interest, the proposed framework therefore offers an attractive alternative to 3D solid finite elements for an accurate prediction of stress states in composite laminates.

Keywords: Multilayer; Layerwise model; Interlaminar stresses; Free-edge; Finite element

Domains: Materials and structures in mechanics [physics.class-ph]

Lucille Salha, Jeremy Bleyer, Karam Sab, Joanna Bodgi. Mesh-adapted stress analysis of multilayered plates using a layerwise model. Advanced Modeling and Simulation in Engineering Sciences, 2020, 7 (1), ⟨10.1186/s40323-020-0142-y⟩. ⟨hal-02612588⟩