On the Compressive Behaviour of a Composite Stiffened Panel with Artificially Introduced Delamination

This study analyses the compressive behaviour of a composite panel consisting of a skin and two T-shaped reinforcements, with an artificial circular delamination in the centre of the bay to simulate a typical impact damage. The main focus is on analysing the buckling and overall failure behaviour of the panel. The panel has been manufactured and mechanically tested under quasi-static compressive displacement. Lock-in thermography has been used to monitor damage progression. A Finite Elements Model of the panel has been developed in the commercial FEM software Ansys Mechanical, to support the experimental results. The SMXB validated numerical tool, based on the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT), has been considered for the numerical analysis. A good correspondence has been found between the experimental and numerical results in terms of strain distribution and buckling load.