The proper generalized decomposition for the simulation of delamination using cohesive zone model

Abstract

The use of cohesive zone models is an efficient way to treat the damage, especially when the crack path is known a priori. This is the case in the modeling of delamination in composite laminates. However, the simulations using cohesive zone models are expensive in a computational point of view. When using implicit time integration scheme or when solving static problems, the non-linearity related to the cohesive model requires many iterations before reaching convergence. In explicit approaches, the time step stability condition also requires an important number of iterations. In this article, a new approach based on a separated representation of the solution is proposed. The Proper Generalized Decomposition is used to build the solution. This technique, coupled with a cohesive zone model, allows a significant reduction of the computational cost. The results approximated with the PGD are very close to the ones obtained using the classical finite element approach.