Nonlinear XFEM Modeling of Mode II Delamination in PPS/Glass Unidirectional Composites with Uncertain Fracture Properties

Initiation and propagation of cracks in composite materials can severely affect their global mechanical properties. Due to the lower strength of the interlaminar bonding compared to fibers and the matrix, delamination between plies is known to be one of the most common failure modes in these materials. It is therefore deemed necessary to gain more insight into this type of failure to guide the design of composite structures towards ensuring their robustness and reliability during service. In this work, delamination of interlaminar bonding in composite end-notched flexure (ENF) samples was modeled using a newly developed stochastic 3D extended finite element method (XFEM). The proposed numerical scheme, which also incorporates the cohesive zone model, was used to characterize the mode II delamination results obtained from ENF testing on polyphenylene sulfide (PPS)/glass unidirectional (UD) composites. The nonrepeatable material responses, often seen during fracture testing of UD composites, were well captured with the current numerical model, demonstrating its capacity to predict the stochastic fracture properties of composites under mode II loading conditions.