Fracture parameter evaluation of composite panels under in-plane loading

A simulation software, CG Pro, is being developed, as a first step, for determining the fracture parameters of composite panels under in-plane loading. The finite element based analysis together with automatic mesh generation capability enables us to trace the failure progression path once the failure criteria are reached. Fracture parameters such as stress intensity factor and T-stress are computed from the J-integral method. The STAGS results are extracted through an interface program, which links STAGS code with our algorithms to compute the fracture parameters. These parameters are calculated for several examples and are compared with existing analytical, numerical results and results obtained from STAGS. Good solution accuracy is demonstrated.