The crack displacement prediction of a composite sample by modelling the mixed mode bending test

One of the main failure modes of laminate structures is interfacial failure by interlaminar failure or debonding. Interlaminar failure can be simulated with a model called cohesive zone approach A key ingredient of a cohesive zone approach is a traction-separation law that describes the softening in the crack zone near the tip of interlaminar failure. This simulation utilized the implementation of a cohesive zone approach with traction-separation laws, which implemented within the thin elastic layer feature of the Solid Mechanics interface in a COMSOL Multiphysics analysis software’s on a sample of composite material APC-2/AS-4. The capabilities of the cohesive zone approach to predict mixed mode effect in the beginning and propagation of the crack are demonstrated in a model of mixed-mode bending test. Both load and displacement are measured at the crack interface. The maximum load that carried by the sample used was 257.8 N. Whereas the maximum displacement was 6 mm as a load-displacement curve was shown.