Low‐cycle fatigue delamination initiation and propagation in fibre metal laminates

The aim of this paper is to develop an elastic–plastic‐damage constitutive law and a tool for simulation of delamination initiation and propagation in fibre metal laminates (FMLs) under low‐cycle fatigue loading regime. In the previous studies, the significance of plasticity in delamination growth and modelling of FMLs was not considered. Hence, cohesive zone law that combines the damage evolution with plasticity is developed. The new fatigue damage model is implemented as user‐written subroutines that links with ansys based on the cohesive finite element method. The cohesive zone model constitutive law has been verified by modelling of the delaminated adhesively bonded aluminium joint under normal and shear loadings and compared with the available results in the literature. The developed procedure and tool have been used for the analyses of DCB and ENF specimens under uniform and variable loadings. The obtained results for progressive damage and delamination and stress–strain curves are discussed in this paper.