A theoretical and experimental study to point out the notion of loading mode in damage mechanics: Application to the identification and validation of a fatigue damage modeling for laminates composites

A model of fatigue-induced intralaminar cracking in strongly anisotropic laminates is presented. The features of the microscopic phenomenon are explicitly taken into account at the macroscopic level by the use of two variables, which define a new concept in Damage Mechanics that results not only in a coherent model of crack density evolution, but also in a coherent treatment of damage deactivation. Damage evolution indeed is strongly dependent on the local loading mode in each ply where cracking occurs. Experiments on complex lay-ups provided sufficient data for complete calibration of the model. These tests also allowed to validate the theoretical choice of the damage variable. Finally, numerous simulations that emphasize the relevance of the approach are presented.