Damage assessment of mode II of polymer composite material using a new acoustic emission and finite element methods

Delamination is one of the major failure modes of the laminated composite material, which is responsible for the stiffness degradation of these materials. Hence, it is necessary to investigate this damage mechanism in these types of materials in order to distinguish their behaviors and their effects on the residual strength of the composite laminates. In this paper, a very capable procedure is proposed to assess delamination using Acoustic Emission (AE) method in composite laminates. Firstly, a novel procedure was established to decompose the fundamental Lamb wave modes in small size specimens. The damage mechanisms in End Notched Flexure (ENF) in woven and unidirectional specimens were then distinguished using Fuzzy Clustering Method (FCM). Subsequently, the crack-arrest phenomenon was inspected in each specimen. Next, experimental and Cohesive Zone Modeling (CZM) methods were done to characterize the delamination using ENF specimens. The results displayed how, it is possible to effectively reduce the effect of propagating media such as attenuation of AE signals using the new proposed procedure. In conclusion, the results of this research could lead to proficiently distinguishing different damages in laminated composite using AE Lamb-based technique.