Course on emerging techniques for damage prediction and failure analysis of laminated composite structures

The field of laminated composite materials is both old and new. It is old in the sense that it was in the early 1960s that scientists and engineers started to study seriously and apply the vast potential of fabricated fibrous composite materials. It is new in the sense that today the development of new materials and processes as well as new applications is accelerating, especially in that aeronautical and space industries; this is the consequence of considerable research and technological progress. The course deals with the crucial central question: how can one predict the evolution of damage up to and including final fractureoe Emerging yet mature answers will be presented. First, a description of today's common approaches in industrial environments will be given, along with their limits regarding the design and calculation of stratified composite structures. More generally, the course stems from the current understanding of the mechanisms of damage and their evolution on the micro, meso and macro scales, in particular due to the research at LMT-Cachan and the accrued experience in identification, numerical analysis and dimensioning at EADS-Innovation Works. The course also emphasizes the damage mesomodel initiated at LMT-Cachan and used today in a number of calculation codes. This advanced yet pragmatic tool for the prediction of damage in stratified materials has become mature thanks particularly to the works of LMT-Cachan on its relation to micromechanics, EADS-Innovation Works on its identification, and DLR on its application to impact and crash problems. The course aims to give engineers and researchers the most complete view possible of the state-of-the-art and emerging techniques in damage prediction and failure analysis of laminated composite structures.