An adaptive floating node based formulation for the analysis of multiple delaminations under quasi-static loading

A novel and efficient numerical formulation for the modelling of multiple delaminations growth in laminated composite materials subjected to quasi-static loading is presented. The proposed formulation alleviates the high computational cost associated with models featuring cohesive elements by using a novel Adaptive Refinement Scheme and an Adaptive Floating Node Method Element to refine the model effectively during the analysis without modifying the global finite element connectivity. The formulation has been implemented in a MATLAB finite element code and validated with single and multiple delamination numerical models with varying mode mixities. The new formulation provides accurate results comparable to standard fully refined finite element models while drastically lowering the computational time of the analysis.