An approach for the prediction of growth of delaminations in laminated composites made of plies of fiber-reinforced polymers is proposed. It allows to handle arbitrary combinations of force, displacement, temperature, and moisture loads. Quasi-static load cases can be treated as well as load cases where some load components are constant and some load components are cyclic. The proposed approach is based on the Griffith criterion, which is evaluated by means of some finite element procedure. It provides a complete picture of a delamination problem in a given structure and offers systematic understanding of the influence of size and position of a delamination on the growth, on the growth stability, and on the structural response. Two examples, a curved laminate and a T-joint, are investigated in detail to underline the capabilities of the proposed approach.
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