A finite element model based on the layer-wise theory and the von Kármán type nonlinear strains is used to analyze damage in laminated composite beams. In the formulation, the Heaviside step function is employed to express the discontinuous interlaminar displacement field at the delaminated interfaces. Two types of the most common damage modes in composite laminates are investigated for cross-ply laminated beams using a numerical approach. First, a multi-scale analysis approach to determine the influence of transverse cracks on a laminate is proposed. In the meso-scale model, the finite element model based on the classical laminate theory provides the material stiffness reduction in terms of the crack density by computing homogenized material properties of the cracked ply. The multiplication of transverse cracks is predicted in a macro-scale beam model under bending loads. In particular, a damage analysis based on nonlinear strain fields in contrast to the linear case is carried out for a moderately large deformation. Secondly, the effect of delamination in a cross-ply laminated beam under bending loads is studied for various boundary conditions with various cross-ply laminate lay-ups. The crack growth of delamination is predicted through investigating the strain energy release rate. Finally, the interactions of a transverse crack and delamination are considered for beams of different configurations. The relationships between the two different damage modes are described through the density of intralaminar cracks and the length of the interlaminar crack. It is found that geometric nonlinearity plays an important role in progression of interlaminar cracks whereas growth of intralaminar cracks is not significantly influenced. This study also shows that the mixture of fracture mode I and II should be considered for analysis of delamination under bending loads and the fracture mode leading delamination changes as the damage develops. The growth of delamination originated from the tip of the transverse crack is found to strongly depend on the thickness of 90- degree layers as well as the transverse crack density. Further, the effect of interfacial crack growth on the transverse cracking can be quatitatively determined by the delamination length, the thickness of 90-degree layers and the transverse crack density.

[pt] Esta dissertação trata da modelagem do comportamento dinâmico de cascas cilíndricas laminadas numa faixa considerada de altas frequências onde o comprimento de onda é menor que a espessura da casca. Nestes casos,as teorias tradicionais de cascas tem problemas para representar com acuracidade a resposta dinâmica destas estruturas. Para superar este inconveniente,empregou-se a teoria discreta de Reddy para compósitos laminados.Esta teoria tem como característica o emprego de funções de interpolação para descrever a variação dos campos de deslocamento ao longo da espessura do laminado. Assim, discretizou-se a espessura da casca em lâminas delgadas na direção radial, impondo condições cinemáticas para cada uma delas. Por isto um estado tridimensional de tensões foi assumido para cada lâmina. Esta técnica permitiu a representação de campos de deslocamentos complexos na espessura do laminado representativos daqueles associados às ondas guiadas em altas frequências. A equação de estado que governa a dinâmica da casca foi então obtida no domínio da frequência a partir da aplicação do principio variacional, sendo empregado o método de Riccati para solucionar a mesma. A validação da metodologia proposta nesta dissertação foi feita comparando o espectro de frequência exato com aquele previsto pela teoria aproximada. Desta forma demonstrou-se que a teoria de Reddy é capaz de representar com precisão o comportamento dinâmico da casca cilíndrica na faixa de alta frequência. Além disso, os resultados obtidos na faixa de baixa frequência foram comparados pelo método dos elementos / [en] This dissertation addresses the problem of modeling the dynamic response of laminated cylindrical shells in the high frequency range -short wavelength-. In this range of frequency, traditional theories fail to provide an accurate result of the vibratory structural response; So, in order to overcome this shortcoming, we employed a model based on Reddys discrete layer-wise theory. In this method the cylindrical shell is discretized in an arbitrary number of layers in the radial direction, and a three dimensional stress state is assumed in each one. Hence, the application of this method let the representation of complexes displacement elds through the thickness of the shell. This characteristic is representative of displacement elds associated to guided waves in the high frequency range. In the frequency domain,the governing equations were written in a state space form by applying a variational principle. The solution of this state equation was obtained by employing an algorithm based on a discrete version of the Ricatti transformation.To validate the method proposed in this dissertation, comparisons of the present work to the exact wave-dispersion spectra were assessed with excellent results. It indicates that the present method can predict an accurate description of the dynamic response in the high-frequency range. In the low frequency range, the results of the theory of Reddy were compared with the nite element method and, again, a good accuracy was obtained.