ON THE EQUIVALENCE OF STRESS INTENSITY AND ENERGY APPROACHES IN BRIDGING ANALYSIS

Abstract— Through‐thickness reinforcement is effective in suppressing delamination in composite laminates. It provides bridging in the crack wake during delamination crack growth. The closure traction behind the crack tip due to this bridging increases the delamination toughness significantly. The effect of bridging may be analysed using the stress intensity approach or the Griffith energetic approach. In this paper, delamination crack growth resistance K_R,(Δa) of a double‐cantilever‐beam specimen, with through‐thickness reinforcement, under Mode I delamination is determined using these two approaches. Additionally, the J‐integral analysis is also employed. A comparison between the theoretical results predicted by these three methods is provided using the example of stitched CFRP.