A global-local approach to the high-fidelity impact analysis of composite structures based on node-dependent kinematics

The objective of the present work is to investigate progressive damage in fibre-reinforced composites under varying load conditions, and in particular transverse impact loads, using a global-local approach. The numerical models are built using higher-order structural theories based on the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF). The node-dependent kinematics (NDK) technique, an intrinsic feature of CUF models, is employed which enables the selective refinement of critical regions of interest within the structure and results in a global-local analysis. Progressive damage is governed by the CODAM2 material model, which is based on continuum damage mechanics. A series of numerical assessments are performed on composite laminates under varying load conditions, and predicted results of the global-local analysis are found to be in good agreement with experimental data, thereby validating the proposed approach. A comparison of its performance with reference high-fidelity CUF models of the full structure demonstrates the computational efficiency that can be achieved using the CUF-NDK global-local approach.