Flexural strength of delaminated composite plate – An experimental validation

In the present work, the flexural strength of delaminated composite plate has been analysed numerically and compared with experimental results. For the numerical investigation, a general mathematical model of the laminated composite plate with and without delamination has been developed using two higher-order kinematic models. The desired governing equation is obtained using variational approach and discretised with the help of the isoparametric finite element steps. The flexural responses of the delaminated structure computed numerically through a generic in-house computer code developed in MATLAB environment. The consistency of the developed numerical models is checked and validated by comparing the bending responses with the available published results. Now, the experimental bending responses of both intact and delaminated composites are evaluated using three-point bend test and compared with numerical responses of the presently developed higher-order models. Finally, the effect of different materials and geometrical parameters including the size, location and position of the delamination on the bending behaviour of the laminated composite plate have been analysed numerically and discussed in detail.