Progressive axial crushing of composite laminates: A comparison between LS-DYNA continuum damage models

We are presenting a detailed comparison of well-established intra-laminar material damage models to assess predictive capabilities and the influence of additional nonphysical parameters with regards to compressive damage behavior and axial crushing of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRPs) structures. Implemented in the commercial explicit Finite Element (FE) software LS-DYNA, three material models MAT058, MAT219 and MAT261 are applied to a range of characteristic tests that lead towards the axial crushing of quasi-isotropic IM7/8552 CFRP laminates. The findings of this study aid in fully understanding the efficient use of built-in intralaminar damage models for CFRP structures under compressive loading. It further leads towards robust and reliable calibration schemes to determine typically used parameters in crashworthiness simulations.