COMPOSITES

SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550
www.elsevier.com/locate/compscitech

Variational analysis of delamination growth for composite

laminated cylindrical shells under circumferential concentrated load
Yang Jinhua
b

a,b,*

, Fu Yiming a, Wang Xianqiao

a
Department of Engineering Mechanics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
College of Bridge and Structure Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha 410076, China

Received 9 March 2006; received in revised form 22 June 2006; accepted 3 July 2006
Available online 5 October 2006

Abstract
The growth of delamination in cylindrical shells under external pressure may lead to structural failure. Based on the variational principle of moving boundary (Qian WC. Variational calculus and nite element. Beijing: Science Press; 1980 [in Chinese].) and considering
the contact eect between delamination regions, in this paper, the nonlinear governing equations for the delaminated cylindrical shells
are derived, and the corresponding boundary and matching conditions are given. Moreover, according to the Grith criterion, the formulas of energy release rate along the delamination front are obtained. As the numerical example, the delamination growth of axisymmetrical laminated cylindrical shells is analyzed, and the eects of delamination sizes and depths, geometrical parameters, material
properties and laminate stacking sequences on delamination growth are discussed.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Composite; Laminated cylindrical shell; Delamination growth; Energy release rates; Contact eect

1. Introduction
Composite laminates are widely used in engineering
because of their specic excellent properties, such as high
strength-to-weight ratio, high stiness-to-weight ratio and
design exibility, etc. But there will be delamination damage in composite laminates during the manufacturing processes, for instance, shocks in assembling procedures.
Comparing with axial pressure, external pressure does
not lead to local buckling in delaminated composite laminates, but it can drive delamination grow. And this will
drastically weaken the stiness and the load carrying
capacity of the laminated structure, nally resulting in global buckling and failure of structure.
It is necessary to determine the stress elds of delamination front in order to analyze the delamination growth of
laminated structures. But it is very dicult to analyze the
stress of the delamination front due to its singularity.
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 731 8824724.

E-mail address: yangjinhua01@tom.com (J. Yang).

0266-3538/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2006.07.036

Whereas the energy release rate, which indicates intensity

of stress elds along delamination front, is a nite value.
As a result, most researches concerned with delamination
growth are carried out from the aspect of energy release rate.
At present, most of this research has been concerned with
one-dimensional penetration delamination and two-dimensional inner delamination. For the former, the analysis is relatively simple because the energy release rate of each point
along delamination front is identical. Chai et al. [1] rst studied the buckling of lm delamination in isotropic laminated
plates by using beam-column theory and also discussed
delamination growth by adopting the denition of energy
release rate in fracture mechanics. Based on classical laminated theory, Sallam and Simitses [2] and Yin [3] examined
the lm delamination buckling and growth in isotropic and
orthotropic laminated plates by using the J-integral. Applying the method of geometric nonlinear nite element and the
virtual crack closure technique, Witcomb [4] calculated the
energy release rate components and analyzed lm delamination growth. Zafer and Fu [5] investigated one-dimensional
delamination growth of laminated composites containing

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J. Yang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550

multiple delaminations. Two-dimensional inner delamination, which appears frequently in practice, is more dicult
to be studied due to its complex growth mode along delamination front. Based on the assumption of delamination with
self-similar growth and using Rayleigh-Ritz method, Chai
[6] rst analyzed lm elliptical delamination of two-dimension and calculated the average energy release rate. Whitcomb and Shivakumar [7,8] analyzed the strain-energy
release rate of quasi-isotropic plates by using the virtual
crack closure technique. Based on the theory of fracture
mechanics, Sheinman and Kardomateas [9] and Davidson
et al. [10] analyzed energy release rates and stress intensity
factors for delaminated composite laminates. Applying the
nite element method, Nillsson et al. [11] researched delamination buckling and growth in a slender composite panel.
Using rst-order shear deformable theory, Park and Sanker
[12] and Wang and Qiao [13] computed energy release rates
of delaminated plates. Zhang and Yu [14] investigated the
buckling and growth of pressed thin lm delamination by
using the high-order perturbation and shooting method.
Jane et al. [15] discussed the postbuckling and growth of lm
rectangular delamination by adopting Rayleigh-Ritz
method. Bottega [17] derived a general form of a growth
law for arbitrary shaped delamination in layered plates by
using the theorem of stationary potential energy coupled
with moving boundary. Zhou and Fan [18] and Zhang and
Yu [19] studied the lm delamination growth of plate under
compression by recourse to the moving boundary variational principle. The above studies are all about the analysis
of delamination growth for beams and plates. Moreover,
most of the studies are limited to discuss lm delamination
growth. Up to now, no investigation has been reported in
eld of delamination growth for cylindrical shells.
The essence of delamination growth is that the delamination boundary continually moves. Therefore, in present study, based on the variational principle of moving
boundary [16] and considering the contact eect between
delamination regions, the nonlinear governing equations
of the delaminated cylindrical shells are derived, and
the corresponding boundary and matching conditions
are given. At the same time, the formula of energy release
rate along the delamination front is obtained according
to Grith criterion. Then, by using nite dierence
method, the nonlinear governing equations are resolved.
The obtained solutions are substituted into the formula
of energy release rate and the value of energy release rate
can be uniquely determined. In numerical examples, the
eects of delamination sizes and depths, geometrical
parameters, material properties and laminate stacking
sequences on the delamination growth are discussed for
axisymmetrical cylindrical shells and some signicant
conclusions are obtained as well.
2. Basic equations
Consider a cylindrical shell with throughout circumference delamination having midsurface radius R, thickness

q
x
z
y

l
L
delamination

z
2

Fig. 1. Geometry of cylindrical shell with delamination.

h, length L and mass density q, and the shell is referred

to the coordinate system x, y, z as shown in Fig. 1. The delaminated length of the shell is b L, and b is the delamination length parameter. z* is the distance measured from the
shell mid-surface to the delamination interface and l represents the delamination position measured from the left end
of the shell. In order to investigate delamination growth,
the delaminated cylindrical shell is divided into four
regions which are denoted by Xi (i = 1, 2, 3, 4), respectively. Here, signs 2, 3 represent delaminated segments,
and 1, 4 represent intact segments. The coordinate x for
each region is measured from the left end. The thickness
of regions 2 is h2 and that of regions 3 is h3, obviously,
h2+h3 = h. In addition, the delamination growth for laminated cylindrical shell has two boundaries which are written as Cj (j = 1, 2). The boundaries on both ends of the
shell are denoted by C0.
 i denote the axial, circumferential
Supposing that ui ; vi ; w
and radial displacements of any points on the region Xi,
respectively, and the corresponding displacement components of middle surface are ui, vi, wi, respectively, then
the displacement components are given by
ui x; y; z ui x; y  zwi;x x; y
vi x; y; z vi x; y  zwi;y x; y

 i x; y; z wi x; y
w
Assuming eix ; eiy and eixy denote the strain components of
any points on region Xi, the nonlinear strain-displacement
relations may be written as
eix eix zjix ;

eiy eiy zjiy ;

eixy eixy zjixy

where eix, eiy, eixy are the strain components on the middle
surface and jix, jiy, jixy are the change values of curvatures
on the middle surface, and
1
wi 1
eix ui;x w2i;x ; eiy vi;y  w2i;y
2
Ri 2
eixy ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y
k ix wi;xx ; k iy wi;yy ; k ixy 2wi;xy

3
4

J. Yang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550

According to classical theory of shells, the membrane

stress resultants Nix, Niy, Nixy and stress couples Mix,
Miy, Mixy can be written as
2 h ih i 3
i
i




Bij
A
N i 
6 ij
7 ei 
4 h ih i 5
5
i
i
M i 
ji 
B
D
ij

ij

in which
9
9
9
8
8
8
>
>
>
=
=
=
< N ix >
< M ix >
< eix >
N i  N iy ; M i  M iy ; ei  eiy ;
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
;
;
:
:
:
N ixy
M ixy
eixy
9
8
>
=
< jix >
ji  jiy
>
>
;
:
jixy

 Z hi =2


i
i
i
2
 k
Aij ; Bij ; Dij
i; j 1; 2; 6
Q
ij 1; z; z dz

i1

i1

i1

Ai

q
wi dx dy
2pRd

k
7

Ai

q h3
E3 2pRd

12

4pRd
h2 =E2 h3 =E3

1;

x L=2

0;

x 6 L=2

14

q maxf1 w2  w3 ; f2 w2  w3 

15

where
f1 w2  w3 0
f2 w2  w3 kw2  w3
The q* in Eq. (15) can be approximated by the following
expression
16

where a(f1, f2) and b(f1, f2) are functions of f1 and f2, and
they should satisfy the following conditions:

Ui is the strain energy density relative to region Xi. T ic is the

coecient of contact eect and T 1c T 4c 0; T 2c 1;
T 3c 1. q* is the contact force per unit length perpendicular
to x-axis and it acts between region 2 and 3. Rd is the radius
of curvature relative to delaminated interface.
The contact force q* should satisfy the following
condition:

0
for w2  w3 6 0
q
9
f w2  w3 for w2  w3 > 0
The function f(w2  w3) can be chosen as a linear spring
function, that is
f w2  w3 kw2  w3

13

Because w2 and w3 are unknown parameters to be

solved, it is impossible to determine which branch of the
q* in Eq. (9) is to be used. To circumvent this diculty,
we will construct a function which will approximate q* in
Eq. (9) for any value of w2  w3 to any desired degree of
accuracy. It is noted that for any value of w2  w3, q* in
Eq. (9) can be expressed as

^q af1 ; f2 f1 bf1 ; f2 f2

where
H x

d3

T ic

As this force is also exerted on region 3 when the two

regions are in contact, the indentation of region 3 is

Substituting Eqs. (11) and (12) into Eq. (13) and according to Eq. (10), the spring modulus k is

4 Z Z
X

11

1
w2  w3 d2 d3
2

where
and Dij are the extension, coupling and
 k
bending rigidity, respectively, and Q
ij is elastic constant
of the kth layer.
Assuming the circumferential concentrated load q acted
on the middle of delaminated cylindrical shell, then the
total potential energy of the delaminated cylindrical shell
can be written as
4 Z Z Z
4 Z Z
X
X
P
U i dx dy dz 
qwi H x dx dy
Xi

q h2
E2 2pRd

The relative displacement of the mid-surface of regions 2

and 3 is approximately

hi =2
i
i
Aij ; Bij

d2

543

10

where k is the elastic modulus. In this paper, k is approximated by an eective modulus of two springs connected in
series. The two springs are namely the 2 and 3 regions beside the delamination. When a region, say, region 2, is subjected to a contact force q*, the indentation can be
approximated by

as f 1 > f2 ;

a ! 1; b ! 0

as f 1 6 f2 ; a ! 0; b ! 1

17

a(f1, f2) and b(f1, f2) satisfying the above conditions can be
chosen as
af1 ; f2 12 1 tanh Af1  f2 
bf1 ; f2 12 1  tanh Af1  f2 

18

where the parameter A is an articially chosen large number depending upon the desired accuracy of approximation
(A is taken as 1015 in present study).
As f1(w2  w3) = 0, the contact force q* can be approximated by
1
^q 1 tan hAf2 f2
2

19

In the above equation, letting f2 be substituted with

k(w2  w3), then we have
1
^q 1 tanh Ak w2  w3 k w2  w3
2

20

544

J. Yang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550

Eq. (20) is the formula of calculating contact force

between delaminations.
Using Eq. (5) and noticing that the problem of delamination growth is the variation of moving boundary, then
from Eq. (8), the variation of the total potential energy is
(

 )T
4 Z Z
X
ei dei
1

i

dP
j dji
Ai dAi 2
i1
"

 #(

 )
Ai Bi
ei dei

i
 dx dy

i 
i 
j dji
B
D
4 Z Z
X
qwi dwi H x dx dy

Ai dAi

i1

4 Z Z
X

Ai dAi

i1

T ic

q
wi dwi dx dy  P
2pRd

21

Moreover, it is assumed that the shell is symmetrically

laminated and all regions are still symmetric with respect
to their each midsurface after delamination occurs. Then,
[B(i)] = 0 and the above equation can be written as
4 Z Z n
X

i T
i 
i 
i T
i 
i o
de j
dj
dxdy
dP
e
A
D
Ai

i1

4 Z Z
X
i1

1
2

4
X

Ai

Z Z

T ic

4 Z Z
X

qH xwi dxdy 

dAi

4 Z Z
X
i1

T ic

dAi

q
wi dxdy
2pRd
22

The last three items of Eq. (22) can be given in the following form:
4 Z Z
n
T


T

o
1X
ei Ai ei ji Di ji dx dy
2 i1
dAi
4 Z Z
4 Z Z
X
X
q
qH xwi dx dy 
T ic
wi dx dy

2pRd
dAi
dAi
i1
i1
4 I  
X
1
i T
i 
i 
i T
i 
i 
e
e j
j
A
D

2
Cj
i1

q
 qH xwi  T ic
wi dni dC j j 1; 2
23
2pRd
Using Eqs. (3)(6) and (23), Eq. (22) can be changed to


4 Z Z 
X
1 2
dP
N xi d ui;x wi;x
2
Ai
i1




wi 1
N yi d vi;y  w2i;y N xyi d ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y
Ri 2





M xi dwi;xx M yi d wi;yy M xyi d 2wi;xy dxdy


4 Z Z
X
i1

Further processing the above equation, it can be written

as the following two parts, that is
25
dP dP1 dP2
where

4 Z Z 
X
o
o
 N xi  N xyi dui
dP1
ox
oy
Ai
i1


o
o
 N xyi  N yi dvi
ox
oy

o
o
o
 M xi;x  M yi;y  M xyi;x
ox
oy
oy
o
o
o
 M xyi;y  N xi wi;x  N yi wi;y
ox
ox
oy
o
o
N yi
 N xyi wi;y  N xyi wi;x 
ox
oy
Ri
 

q
 qH x  T ic
dwi dxdy
2pRd
4 I n
X

N xi dui jCj N xyi dvi jCj

i1

dAi

i1

i1

4 Z Z
X

q
dwi dxdy
2pRd
Ai
i1
n
T


T

o
ei Ai ei ji Di ji dxdy

qH xdwi dxdy 





4 I 
1X
1
wi 1
N xi ui;x w2i;x N yi vi;y  w2i;y
2 i1 Cj
2
Ri 2


N xyi ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y M xi wi;xx




M yi wi;yy M xyi 2wi;xy  qHxwi

q
 T ic
wi dni dC j
24
2pRd

Ai

qH xdwi dxdy 

4 Z Z
X
i1

Ai

T ic

q
dwi dxdy
2pRd

Cj

M xi;x M xyi;y N xi wi;x N xyi wi;y dwi jCj

o
26
 M xi dwi;x jCj  M xyi dwi;y jCj dC j
"
!
!


4 I
X
oui 
ovi 
dP2
N xi  
N xyi  
on Cj
on Cj
Cj
i1
 !
owi 
M xi;x M xyi;y N xi wi;x N xyi wi;y  
on Cj

 #
owi;x 
owi;y 
M xyi
 dni dC j
M xi

on Cj
on Cj




4 I 
1X
1 2
wi 1 2

N xi ui;x wi;x N yi vi;y  wi;y

Ri 2
2 i1 Cj
2
N xyi ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y M xi wi;xx M yi wi;yy

i

M xyi 2wi;xy  qH xwi  T c q =2pRd wi dni dC j
27
The derivations of Eq. (25) are given in Appendix A.
For the delaminated cylindrical shell, the normal direction n of delamination growth is consistent with the axial
direction x. Therefore, Eq. (27) can also be written as
follows:
4 I
X
dP2
N xi ui;x N xyi vi;x
i1

Cj

M xi;x M xyi;y N xi wi;x N xyi wi;y wi;x

J. Yang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550

M xi wi;xx M xyi wi;xy   dni dC j





4 I 
1X
1 2
wi 1 2

N xi ui;x wi;x N yi vi;y  wi;y

2 i1 Cj
2
Ri 2
N xyi ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y M xi wi;xx
M yi wi;yy M xyi 2wi;xy  qH xwi

 T ic q =2pRd wi dni dC j

The continuity conditions of displacements are

u2 0; y u1 L1 ; y d 2 w1 ;x L1 ; y;
v2 0; y v1 L1 ; y d 2 w1 ;y L1 ; y
u3 0; y u1 L1 ; y  d 3 w1 ;x L1 ; y;
v3 0; y v1 L1 ; y  d 3 w1 ;y L1 ; y

28

u2 L2 ; y u4 0; y d 2 w4 ;x 0; y;
v2 L2 ; y v4 0; y d 2 w4 ;y 0; y
u3 L3 ; y u4 0; y  d 3 w4 ;x 0; y;
v3 L3 ; y v4 0; y  d 3 w4 ;y 0; y

Let
Gi N xi ui;x N xyi vi;x M xi;x M xyi;y
N xi wi;x N xyi wi;y wi;x M xi wi;xx M xyi wi;xy 
1
1
wi 1
N xi ui;x w2i;x N yi vi;y  w2i;y
2
2
Ri 2
N xyi ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y M xi wi;xx
M yi wi;yy M xyi 2wi;xy   qH xwi
 T ic q =2pRd wi

545

33

w1 L1 ; y w2 0; y; w1 L1 ; y w3 0; y; w1 ;x L1 ; y
w2 ;x 0; y; w1 ;x L1 ; y w3 ;x 0; y
w4 0; y w2 L2 ; y; w4 0; y w3 L3 ; y; w4 ;x 0; y
w2 ;x L2 ; y; w4 ;x 0; y w3 ;x L3 ; y
29

The equilibrium conditions of moments and forces are

N 1xx L1 ; y N 2xx 0; y N 3xx 0; y;

then
dP2

4 I
X
i1

N 4xx 0; y N 2xx L2 ; y N 3xx L3 ; y

30

Gi dni dC j
Cj

The displacements of laminated cylindrical shell must

change after imaginary growth dn occurs along delamination front. At the same time,R the changeable area of the
integral region is that dAi Cj dni dC j . Thus, dP2 is the
variation of potential energy due to the area alteration of
each region. Because dP1 is the variation of potential
energy due to the virtual displacement of laminated cylindrical shell while imaginary growth does not occur (i.e.
the delamination boundary is immovable), so according
to the principle of virtual displacement, when the laminated
cylindrical shell is in state of equilibrium, we have
dP1 0
31
From Eq. (31), the nonlinear governing equations, the
corresponding boundary and matching conditions can be
derived for the delaminated cylindrical shell.
The nonlinear governing equations for each region are
i
A11 ui ;xx

i
A12

i
A66 vi ;xy

i
A12

i
A66 wi ;y wi ;xy


wi ; 0
Ri x
i
i
i
i
i
i
A12 A66 ui ;xy A66 vi ;xx A22 vi ;yy A12 A66 wi ;x wi ;xy
i
i
i 1
A66 wi ;y wi ;xx A22 wi ;y wi ;yy  A22 wi ;y 0
Ri
i
i
i
i
 D11 wi ;xxxx 2D12 4D66 wi ;xxyy D22 wi ;yyyy
1 i
i
i
i 1
wi ;xx A11 ui ;x A11 wi ;2x A12 vi ;y  A12 wi
2
Ri
1 i 2
i
A12 wi ;y 2A66 ui ;y vi ;x wi ;x wi ;y wi ;xy
2
1 i
1 i
i
i
i 1
A12 ui ;x A12 wi ;2x A22 vi ;y  A22 wi A22 wi ;2y
2
Ri
2

1
q
 wi ;yy qH x T ic
0
32
Ri
2pRd
i
A11 wi ;x wi ;xx

i
A66 wi ;x wi ;yy

i
A66 ui ;yy

i
A12

N 1xy L1 ; y N 2xy 0; y N 3xy 0; y;

N 4xy 0; y N 2xy L2 ; y N 3xy L3 ; y
M 1x L1 ; y M 2x 0; y  d 2 N 2xx 0; y
M 3x 0; y d 3 N 3xx 0; y;
M 4x 0; y M 2x L2 ; y  d 2 N 2xx L2 ; y

34

M 3x L3 ; y d 3 N 3xx L3 ; y
Q1x L1 ; y Q2x 0; y  d 2 N 2xy;y 0; y
Q3x 0; y d 3 N 3xy;y 0; y;
Q4x 0; y Q2x L2 ; y  d 2 N 2xy;y L2 ; y
Q3x L3 ; y d 3 N 3xy;y L3 ; y
where Qix = Mix,x + 2Mixy,y.
The boundary conditions for both ends are
w1 0; y 0; N 1xx 0; y 0; N 1xy 0; y 0; w1;x 0; y 0
w4 L4 ; y 0; N 4xx L4 ; y 0; N 4xy L4 ; y 0; w4;x L4 ; y 0
clamped

35

w1 0; y 0; N 1xx 0; y 0; N 1xy 0; y 0; w1;xx 0; y 0

w4 L4 ; y 0; N 4xx L4 ; y 0; N 4xy L4 ; y 0; w4;xx L4 ; y 0
simply supported

36

where di = h/2  hi/2.

Altogether, when the imaginary growth dn occurs, the
variation of total potential energy is (Noticing dP1 = 0)
4 I
X
Gi dni dC j
37
dP dP2
i1

Cj

3. Energy release rate

The essence of delamination growth is that the delamination boundary continually moves and so the formulas
of energy release rate can be founded according to Grif-

546

J. Yang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550

th criterion of crack growth. Assuming when imaginary

growth dn occurs, the area change of delamination region
is dA, base on energy conservation principle, the work
done by the external loads is summation of the elastic
strain energy and the energy spent on the delamination
growth, that is
dP C 0

38

where P = U  W, and the P represents the total potential

energy of elastic system, U represents the strain energy, W
represents the work done by the external loads and C represents the energy spent on the delamination growth.
According to Grith criterion, the energy release rate G
can be expressed as
G  lim

dA!0

dP
dA

39

So the average energy release rate Ga of delamination

growth is
P4 H
dP
i1 C j Gi dni dC j
R

40
Ga 
dA
dn dC j
Cj
If delamination growth occurs only on partial boundary, that is, dn is greater than zero on certain boundary
DCj belonged to Cj and it equals to zero on residual boundary Cj  DCj, then the average energy release rate of this
growth is
P4 R
i1 DC j Gi dni dC j
R
Ga 
41
dn dC j
DC j
Obviously, the average energy release rate relates to the
mode of the delamination growth, but it is generally difcult to anticipate the actual mode of delamination
growth because of that dn is a unknown continuous function. So it is dicult to calculate directly the average
energy release rate by using Eq. (41). Now, supposing
DCj is a small segment including a given point and letting
DCj innitely diminish to approach the point, then from
Eq. (41) the energy release rate of any point can be given
as
P4 R
i1 DC j Gi dni dC j
R
G  lim
42
DC j !0
dn dC j
DC j
From Eq. (42), it can be seen that the G represents the
distribution of energy release rate of any point on delaminated boundary.
For boundary C1 , obviously having
dn1 dn2 dn3 dn
and noticing Eq. (42), the energy release rate of any point
on the boundary C1 is
R
G1  G2  G3 dn dC 1
DC 1
R
GC1 lim
DC 1 !0
dn dC 1
DC 1
G1  G2  G3

43

For boundary C2, similarly having

dn4 dn2 dn3 dn
and also noticing Eq. (42), the energy release rate of any
point on the boundary C2 is
R
G4  G2  G3 dn dC 2
DC 2
R
GC2 lim
DC 2 !0
dn dC 2
DC 2
G4  G2  G3

44

Once the energy release rate being calculated, we can

judge whether the delamination growth occurs according
to the critical value Gc of energy release rate, that is, there
is no delamination growth when the energy release rate is
less than Gc and delamination growth will occur when
the energy release rate is greater than Gc. In order to calculate the energy release rate, the displacements ui, vi, wi must
be rst obtained through applying the central nite-dierence method to Eq. (32) and their corresponding conditions (33)(36). Then, the energy release rate of the
delaminated cylindrical shell can be determined by adopting Eqs. (29) and (42). In the following numerical examples, the displacement solutions are not presented because
the emphasis is given to the growth characteristics of
delamination, rather than to the deformation pattern of
delaminated cylindrical shell under external pressure.
4. Numerical results and discussion
For the sake of simplication, in present study, only the
delamination growth of axisymmetrical laminated cylindrical shells is calculated.
Before discussing delamination growth caused by external radial load, the transverse deformation of region X2 is
rst calculated for isotropic lm delaminated cylindrical
shell in order to validate the present analytical method.
The delaminated cylindrical shell is subjected to radial uniform load only in region X2. In this case, the region X2 can
be treated as a cylindrical shell with its both ends clamped
and the radial displacement of this shell (region X2) can be
obtained on basis of the literature [20]. The geometrical
parameters of the delaminated region X2 are L/R = 5/3,
R/h = 30 and the Poisson ratio m is 0.3. When the radial
load Q(Q = qL4/(A22h3)) takes value 1.875 104, the variable curve of radial displacement w along coordinate x
for region X2 is presented in Fig. 2. From Fig. 2, a good
agreement between these two sets of values is observed.
Thereby it is validated that the present analytical method
and calculating procedure are reliable.
In the following, the eects of delamination lengths
and depths, the geometrical parameters, the material
properties and the laminate stacking sequences on the
energy release rate G are investigated. In all gures, the
delamination is assumed to be located symmetrically with
respect to both ends of the shell (i.e. l 1bL
, the verti2
 is the ratio of energy release rate G and
cal ordinate G
E22h5/((1-m12m21)L4).

J. Yang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550

0.0

1.2

2=0.3, 2=0.2

Present result
-0.5

Literature

w/h

2=0.2, 2=0.2

1.0

[20]

2=0.1, 2=0.2
0.8

-1.0

-1.5

0.6

-2.0

0.4

-2.5

0.2

-0.5

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.0
0.0

0.5

0.5

1.0

x/L

1.5

2.0

2.5 (10 )

Fig. 4. Eect of delamination depth on energy release rate.

Fig. 2. Radial displacement of delaminated region X2 .

When the external radial load Q is taken as 1200, 1800

and 2500, respectively, the variable curves of energy release
 with delamination length b are shown in Fig. 3. In
rate G
this case, the cylindrical shell is isotropic (m = 0.3) and
clamped on both ends. The geometrical parameters are
L/R = 5/3, R/h = 30 and the delamination depth parameter a2(= h2/h) is 0.1. From Fig. 3, it can be seen that the
 increases with delamination length
energy release rate G
at rst, but when b increases to a certain value, the energy
 reaches a maximum, and then it begins to
release rate G
decrease. This shows that the delamination growth is likely
to be stable for delaminated cylindrical shell.
For dierent values of the delamination depth a2, the
 with external radial
variable curves of energy release rate G
load Q are shown in Fig. 4. In this case, the cylindrical shell
is isotropic (m = 0.3) and clamped on both ends. The geometrical parameters are L/R = 5/3, R/h = 30 and the
delamination length parameter b(b2) is 0.2. From the gure, it can be seen that the energy release rate increases with
delamination depth. This shows that the growth is easier to
occur for deeper delamination.
For dierent ratio of the L/R, the variable curves of
 with external radial load Q are shown
energy release rate G
in Fig. 5. In this case, the cylindrical shell is isotropic
(m = 0.3) and clamped on both ends. The geometrical

1.0

L/R=5.0/3
L/R=5.5/3
L/R=6.0/3

0.8

0.6

G
0.4

0.2

0.0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5 (10 )

Fig. 5. Eect of the ratio of L/R on energy release rate.

parameters are R/h = 30 and the delamination parameters

are a2 = 0.2, b = 0.2. From the gure, it can be seen that
the energy release rate increases with the decrease of ratio
of L/R. Thus, it can be concluded that the delamination
growth is more dicult to occur when the ratio of L/R
increases.
For delaminated cylindrical shell with dierent laid
material, the variable curves of energy release rate with
external radial load are shown in Fig. 6. In this numerical
example, three kinds of materials are used. The rst kind is

0.6

0.5

547

1.0

Q=2500
Q=1800
Q=1200

0.8

E11/E22=1.0
E11/E22=2.0
E11/E22=5.0

0.4

0.6

0.3

G
0.4

0.2

0.2

0.1

0.0
0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

Q
Fig. 3. Eect of delamination length on energy release rate.

Fig. 6. Eect of E11/E22 on energy release rate.

2.5 (10 )

548

J. Yang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550

Table 1
Values of elastic constants

Material 1
Material 2
Material 3

E11/E22

G12/E22

1.0
2.0
5.0

0.38
0.43
0.50

0.30
0.30
0.25

isotropic and the other two kinds are anisotropic. The used
elastic constants of these materials are listed in Table 1.
The geometrical parameters are L/R = 5/3, R/h = 30. The
delamination parameters are a2 = 0.2, b = 0.2 and the
stacking sequences of laminates are [0/0/0]10. From
the gure, it can be seen that the energy release rate of
material 1 is maximum and that of material 3 is minimum.
This shows that the energy release rate of delaminated shell
increases with the decrease of ratio of E11/E22. Thus, it can
be concluded that the delamination growth is more dicult
to occur when the ratio of E11/E22 increases.
For dierent stacking sequences, the variable curves of
energy release rate with external radial load are shown in
Fig. 7. The geometrical parameters and the delamination
parameters are the same with the above example. The used
composites are material 2 and 3. From Fig. 7, it can be seen
that the energy release rate of delaminated cylindrical
shell with stacking sequences [0/90/0]10 is less than that

0.8
o

[0 /0 /0 ]
o

of [0/0/0]10. This shows that the delamination growth is

more dicult to occur when the anisotropism of material
increases. Furthermore, comparing Fig. 7a and b, it can
be seen that the eect of stacking sequences on energy
release rate increases with the increase of E11/E22.
In addition, from the above all gures, it can be seen
that the energy release rate of delaminated shell increases
with external radial load. And this shows the delamination
growth is easier to occur when the external radial load
increases.
5. Conclusions
Based on the variational principle of moving boundary
and the Grith criterion, the formula of energy release rate
G along the delamination front are founded. In numerical
examples, the eects of delamination sizes and depths,
the geometrical parameters, the material properties and
the laminate stacking sequences on delamination growth
are discussed for axisymmetrical cylindrical shells. The following conclusions are drawn.
For a given external load Q, the energy release rate of
the delaminated cylindrical shell increases with delamination length b at rst, but when b increases to a particular
value, the energy release rate reaches a maximum, and then
it begins to decrease. The energy release rate and the possibility of delamination growth increase with the increase of
delamination depth and external radial load, and decrease
with the increase of the ratio of E11/E22, L/R and the
anisotropism of material.

[0 /90 /0 ]
0.6

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the support of National

Natural Science Foundation in China, Grant No.
10572049.

0.4

0.2

Appendix A
0.0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5 (10 )

a
o

0.4

The derivations of Eq. (25) are given as follows:

Using dierential and integral calculus, Eq. (24) can be
deduced as

[0 /0 /0 ]
o

[0 /90 /0 ]

dP
0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5 (10 )

Fig. 7. Eect of stackling sequence on energy release rate. (a) Material 2,

(b) Material 3.


4 Z Z 
X
o
o
N xi dui  N xi dui
ox
ox
Ai
i1


o
o

N xi wi;x dwi  N xi wi;x dwi

ox
ox


o
o
N yi
N yi dvi  N yi dvi 
dwi

oy
oy
Ri


o
o

N yi wi;y dwi  N yi wi;y dwi

oy
oy


o
o
N xyi dui  N xyi dui

oy
oy


o
o

N xyi dvi  N xyi dvi

ox
ox

J. Yang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550


o
o
N xyi wi;y dwi  N xyi wi;y dwi
o
ox
 x

o
o
N xyi wi;x dwi  N xyi wi;x dwi

o
oy
 y

o
o
o

M xi dwi;x  M xi;x dwi M xi;x dwi
ox
ox
ox


o
o
o
M yi dwi;y  M yi;y dwi M yi;y dwi

oy
oy
oy


o
o
o
M xyi dwi;y  M xyi;x dwi M xyi;x dwi

ox
oy
oy


o
o
o
M xyi dwi;x  M xyi;y dwi M xyi;y dwi dxdy

oy
ox
ox
Z
Z
4
X

qH xdwi dxdy

i1
4
X

q
dwi dxdy
2pRd
Ai
i1


4 I 
1X
1 2

N xi ui;x wi;x
2 i1 Cj
2


wi 1
N yi vi;y  w2i;y N xyi ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y
Ri 2
M xi wi;xx M yi wi;yy M xyi 2wi;xy

i

 qH xwi T c q =2pRd wi dni dC j


The above equation can be further written as


4 Z Z 
X
o
o
dP
 N xi  N xyi dui
ox
oy
Ai
i1


o
o
 N xyi  N yi dvi
ox
oy

o
o
o
o
 M xi;x  M yi;y  M xyi;x  M xyi;y
ox
oy
oy
ox
o
o
o
 N xi wi;x  N yi wi;y  N xyi wi;y
ox
oy
ox
 
o
N yi
q
 qH x  T ic
 N xyi wi;x 
dwi dx dy
Ri
2pRd
oy
4 I
X

N xi dui N xi wi;x dwi N xyi dvi N xyi wi;y dwi

i1

Cj


 M xi dwi;x M xi;x dwi M xyi dwi;y M xyi;y dwi Cj dy

Ai

Z Z

549

T ic

fN yi dvi N yi wdi;y wi N xyi dui N xyi wdi;x wi  M yi dwi;y


M yi;y dwi M xyi;x dwi  M xyi dwi;x g dx
Cj





4 I 
1X
1
wi 1

N xi ui;x w2i;x N yi vi;y  w2i;y

Ri 2
2 i1 Cj
2


N xyi ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y M xi wi;xx M yi wi;yy

M xyi 2wi;xy  qH xwi  T ic q =2pRd wi dni dC j

A:1

A:3

Rearranging Eq. (A.1), it can be written as

dP

4
X

Z Z 

o
o
N xi  N xyi dui
ox
oy
Ai
i1


o
o
 N xyi  N yi dvi
ox
oy

o
o
o
 M xi;x  M yi;y  M xyi;x
ox
oy
oy
o
o
o
o
 M xyi;y  N xi wi;x  N yi wi;y  N xyi wi;y
ox
ox
oy
ox

o
N yi
q
dwi
 qH x  T ic
 N xyi wi;x 
Ri
2pRd
oy

o
o
o

N xi dui N xi wi;x dwi N xyi dvi

ox
ox
ox
o
o
o
N xyi wi;y dwi  M xi dwi;x M xi;x dwi
ox
ox
ox

o
o
 M xyi dwi;y M xyi;y dwi
ox
ox

o
o
o
N yi dvi N yi wi;y dwi N xyi dui

oy
oy
oy
o
o
o
N xyi wi;x dwi  M yi dwi;y M yi;y dwi
oy
oy
oy

o
o
M xyi;x dwi  M xyi dwi;x dxdy
oy
oy




4 I 
1X
1
wi 1

N xi ui;x w2i;x N yi vi;y  w2i;y

Ri 2
2 i1 Cj
2


N xyi ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y M xi wi;xx
M yi wi;yy M xyi 2wi;xy  qH xwi

i

 T c q =2pRd wi dni dC j
A:2


Assuming #i is the angle between the normal direction ni

of a certain point on boundary Cj and h 0 (that is the
axial direction x, then
dx  sin#i  h  dC j ; dy cos#i  h  dC j
A:4
For the delaminated cylindrical shell, the normal direction ni of delamination growth is consistent with the axial
direction x, that is #i  h 0. Therefore, Eq. (A.3) can
be written as
dP


4 Z Z 
X
o
o
 N xi  N xyi dui
ox
oy
Ai
i1


o
o
 N xyi  N yi dvi
ox
oy

o
o
o
 M xi;x  M yi;y  M xyi;x
ox
oy
oy
o
o
o
 M xyi;y  N xi wi;x  N yi wi;y
ox
ox
oy
o
o
N yi
 N xyi wi;y  N xyi wi;x 
Ri
ox
oy
 

i q
dwi dx dy
 qH x  T c
2pRd
4 I
X
fN xi dui N xi wi;x dwi N xyi dvi

i1

Cj

N xyi wi;y dwi  M xi dwi;x M xi;x dwi


 M xyi dwi;y M xyi;y dwi gCj dC j




4 I 
1X
1 2
wi 1 2
N xi ui;x wi;x N yi vi;y  wi;y

Ri 2
2 i1 C j
2

550

J. Yang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 541550

N xyi ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y M xi wi;xx M yi wi;yy


M xyi 2wi;xy  qH xwi  T ic q =2pRd wi dni dC j
A:5

As the variation of ui ; vi ; wi is carried out on variable

boundary C j , we have

oui 
dui jCj dui jCj    dni ;
on Cj

ovi 
dvi jCj dvi jCj    dni
on Cj

owi 
A:6
dwi jCj dwi jC j 
 dni ;
on Cj
dwi;x
j  dni
dn Cj

owi;y 
dwi;y Cj 
 dni
on Cj

dwi;x jCj dwi;x jCj 


dwi;y Cj

Using Eq. (A.6), Eq. (A.5) can be written as

4 Z Z 
X


o
o
dP
 N xi  N xyi dui
ox
oy
Ai
i1


o
o
 N xyi  N yi dvi
ox
oy

o
o
o
o
 M xi;x  M yi;y  M xyi;x  M xyi;y
ox
oy
oy
ox
o
o
o
 N xi wi;x  N yi wi;y  N xyi wi;y
ox
oy
ox
 

o
N yi
i q
 N xyi wi;x 
 qH x  T c
dwi dx dy
oy
Ri
2pRd
4 I n
X
N xi dui jCj N xyi dvi jCj

i1

Cj

M xi;x M xyi;y N xi wi;x N xyi wi;y dwi jCj


 M xi dwi;x jCj  M xyi dwi;y Cj gdC j
 !
 !
4 I 
X
oui 
ovi 

N xi  
N xyi  
on Cj
on Cj
Cj
i1
M xi;x M xyi;y N xi wi;x N xyi wi;y 

 !
owi 
 
on Cj


 #
owi;x 
owi;y 
M xi
M xyi
 dni dC j
on Cj
on Cj

4 I
1X
1
wi 1

N xi ui;x w2i;x N yi vi;y  w2i;y

2 i1 Cj
2
Ri 2
N xyi ui;y vi;x wi;x wi;y M xi wi;xx
M yi wi;yy M xyi 2wi;xy  qH xwi

i

 T c q =2pRd wi dni dC j

A:7

Eq. (A.7) is written as

dP dP1 dP2

A:8

where dP1 and dP2 are listed in Eqs. (26) and (27).
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