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Abstract Many paper products are coated with plastic to improve their quality and stability. However, this limits recycling and recovery options and the plastic-coated waste paper is mostly disposed in landfills. Such practices are uneconomical and contrary to sustainable waste management. In this work enzymes of the white rot fungus Dichomitus squalens were investigated for possible delamination of plastic-coated waste paper. Enzymes were found capable to release the polyethylene foil from plastic-coated paper which resulted in 88.6–91.5% mass loss. The delamination rate, however, was depended on the ratio between plastic-coated paper and volume of enzyme filtrate. Results of a consequent experiment showed that enzymes are also efficient when plastic-coated paper is treated in a sequencing batch reactor resulting in 88.2–90.6% mass loss. The system was fully functional up to the 5th cycle; afterwards, the delamination rate reduced due to high thickness of the waste paper sludge. The enzyme activity, however, was still very high; with the laccase activity at the end of the experiment above 900 U/L and manganese peroxidase above 250 U/L. Our results demonstrated, that plastic-coated waste paper has the potential to be efficiently recovered instead of being disposed in landfills. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Enzymatic delamination of waste paper was investigated. • Enzymes were capable to release the polyethylene foil from the plastic-coated paper. • Treatment in a sequencing batch reactor is also possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the cutting behavior of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composites and GNP–GFRP composites that contain varying amounts of Graphene Nano Platelets (GNP). GFRP composites are increasingly being used in a variety of industrial applications due to their excellent mechanical properties, such as high strength, stiffness, and low weight. However, their machining and cutting behavior can be challenging due to the presence of the reinforcing fibers. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the machining behavior of GFRP composites and the effect of adding GNP on their cutting behavior. The effect of different parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate and reinforcement rate on cutting forces and delamination factor is investigated. In addition, the tensile strength and fatigue behavior of the composite materials with the best and worst delamination factors were also determined. Addition of up to 0.2 wt.% of GNP to GFRP composites resulted in an increase in cutting forces and delamination factor when drilling GFRP composites. While the cutting force and delamination factor decreased with the increase in cutting speed, the cutting force and delamination factor increased with the increase in the feed rate. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the effects of drilling parameters and reinforcement ratio on cutting force and delamination factor according to full factorial experimental design. The most efficient factor on the cutting forces is found to be feed rate (84.97%), followed by the reinforced rate (6.48%) and cutting speed (6.13%). The most efficient factor on the delamination factor is determined to be feed rate for (44.49%), followed by the reinforced rate (29.20%) and cutting speed (21.73%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibre morphology and its evolution during refining and fractionation at low consistency were studied to understand the key relationships between the mechanical properties of paper and those of fibres. A broad analysis is presented on the physical and mechanical properties characterising the intrinsic morphological properties of fibres. The experimental refining process involved a primary stage at high consistency (HC), a fractionation stage with a small aperture basket, a low consistency (LC) refining stage, and a final high consistency refining (HCR) stage. The idea was to benefit from the pulp already being at low consistency following the screening step. Using a higher proportion of low consistency refining (LCR) tended to lower the tensile strength at 100 mL CSF, but some intermediate values did exhibit better responses to refining. Fractionation permits the use of LCR to retain fibre length and to develop additional long fibre bonding. The net gain remains even with energy reduction. It is believed, among other things, that a greater number or greater intensity of fibre-to-bar contacts would help increase internal delamination of the fibre structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene oxide (GO) paper is an attracting structural material because of its high stiffness and light-weight. In order to exploit the high strength and stiffness of individual GO nanosheet into GO paper, the fabrication process must be optimized. In this study we fabricated ultra-stiff and strong GO paper by directed-flow vacuum filtration and compared its mechanical properties under different loading conditions. We also explored the effect of cross-linking with borax, thermal annealing and sonication to further enhance mechanical properties. The stiffest GO paper reported here has a tensile modulus of 109.9 GPa and a flexural modulus of 45.7 GPa. We also found that the flexural modulus of GO paper is significantly lower than the tensile modulus because of interlayer shearing, micro-buckling and delamination during flexural deformation. The properties of GO papers therefore need to be carefully selected for mechanical structures where flexion is the major deformation. This study provides significant insights about improving mechanical properties of GO paper and selecting GO paper for different loading conditions. Image 1095 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates roll paper fire using laboratory-scale experiments, with emphasis on water transport on burning surfaces for sprinkler suppression. Freeburn, water transport and suppression experiments were conducted using different types of paper with various basis weight and water absorptivity. For fire suppression, the experimental results showed different water transport patterns that are sensitive to the burning surface conditions. This is in contrast to the water transport under no fire conditions in straight vertical rivulets exhibiting highly non-uniform distribution along the roll perimeter. For roll paper fire growth, both surface delamination and exfoliation play a crucial role, with the delamination length increasing either linearly or exponentially with time and the exfoliation rates strongly dependent on paper basis weight. Although the effects observed at the small scale in this work may have differences from those at large scales, the experimental results yield insights for better understanding of fire growth and suppression mechanisms and provide extensive data for numerical model development and validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crucial obstacle to design an electrically conducting device is the poor and heterogeneous dispersion of the pristine CNTs in polymer matrices. The best method to overcome these problems is to create a CNT core-polymer shell structure, allowing a dense close-packing of the CNT core-polymer shell units, expecting in the formation of completely homogeneous CNT-polymer films and a big improvement in their physicochemical properties including the electrical conductivity. Poly[3-(5-carboxylpentyl)thiophene-2,5-diyl] wrapped multi-walled carbon nanotubes (P3PT-COOH/CNTs) in core-shell structure were successfully prepared as a bucky paper by simple pH-control of the aqueous solution containing different weight percentages of the both components (P3PT-COOH/CNTs = 50/50, 60/40, 70/30). The core-shell structure of P3PT-COOH/CNT-50 nanohybrid films showed a significantly high electrical conductivity increase of up to 17 fold compared with those of non-core-shell structure prepared by a simple mixing (e.g. from 1.33 to 1.81 S/cm up to 22 S/cm). The result could be considered to be a consequence of a homogeneous P3PT–COOH–wrapping on the surface of CNTs, the regular shell thickness of individual CNT-core/P3PT–COOH–shell nanohybrid fibers, and their three-dimensional close packing in a film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose acetate (CA) lamination, a technique to strengthen documents by sealing them between sheets of thermoplastic film, was widespread from the 1930s to the 1990s. Its use gradually stopped in the 1980s amid concerns about the physical and chemical instability of the laminate and the degradation risks posed to the treated document. Despite concerns about CA lamination, no coordinated effort has taken place to establish the various materials and techniques used in cellulose acetate laminations or to determine the number and present condition of CA laminated documents in US collections. In this paper, we review the chemistry and methods used in CA lamination. We then report results of a survey of 52 US institutions with significant laminated collections. We find that at least 2.9 million laminated documents exist in US collections, and most of those documents are observed to be in stable condition. A majority of the institutions used cellulose diacetate (CDA) as the laminating film and as few as 0.6% CDA laminated documents have been delaminated. The results should aid institutions in determining the cost benefit in the management of these significant collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparison between uncreped and creped handsheets was performed to study the effect of fiber morphology and creping process on fiber web structure and tissue properties. Four wood and non-wood pulps refined at different levels were used to manufacture uncreped and creped handsheets using a creping simulator. A characterization of the fiber web structure using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and evaluation of tissue properties (e.g. tensile strength, water absorbency, softness) was performed on the uncreped and creped handsheets. The results obtained with the creping simulator were compared with commercial products to evaluate the significance of the creping simulator results. The SEM images of the fiber web structure showed that the creping process promoted buckling and distortion of fibers, delamination of surface fiber layer, development of free fiber ends and creation of crepe folds, which enhanced water absorbency and softness at the expense of reduced tensile strength. Short and thin fibers seemed to be more effectively creped than long and coarse fibers. Long and coarse fibers seemed to offer higher resistance to the compressive forces acting at the creping blade. A reasonable correlation between the performance of uncreped and creped handsheets made with different fibers was observed. The results indicate that the performance of uncreped handsheets can be used as a semi-quantitative indication of the performance of creped handsheets. The performance of the creped handsheets were similar to commercial products, which indicates that the creping simulator can be used as an alternative to study the creping process at laboratory scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Scott bond test method has been used extensively in the paper industry over the years as a means to assess the bond strength of paper. The method has been a subject of some controversy lately since it does not always correlate to the sensitivity of the material to fracture by delamination. To gain some further insight into which parameters govern the fracture process in a Scott bond test a simplified approach has been chosen in order to formulate an analytical mathematical/mechanical model of the test. The model is dynamic in the sense that inertia effects are included. The material model utilised is a simple cohesive theory that assumes a linear behaviour between stress and crack opening when the material has started to degrade. This choice of material model makes the mathematical model very nonlinear. In fact, a system of three coupled nonlinear second order partial differential equations have to be solved and adjusted to the correct initial conditions. The material parameters needed for the model are the elastic modulus in the thickness direction, the transverse shear (elastic) modulus, the tensile strength (in the thickness direction) and the fracture work (per unit area) for a delamination crack. To investigate the ability of the model, a Scott bond testing apparatus have been equipped with a piezoelectric load sensor. The load cell was mounted on the apparatus’ pendulum so that the load acting on the sample holder could be recorded during the whole impact stage. This was done for a number of different initial velocities of the pendulum and it is found that the model gives a fair prediction of the contact load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses awareness service covers British and international publications, conference proceedings and multimedia products.

The problem of failure in the facings of a corrugated board is investigated by means of a mechanical model utilizing the principles of continuum damage mechanics. To evaluate the predictive capability of the model, experiments have been conducted on in-plane isotropic single and two-ply paper sheets manufactured in the laboratory. It is found that there is a qualitative agreement between model and experiments. The model can predict if delamination will occur before the top-ply loses its in-plane load carrying capacity due to material degradation. To circumvent delamination problems, a material with low stiffness should be used in the top-ply (as compared to the bottom-ply) and a very thin top-ply should be avoided. It is exemplified that it is possible to steer the failure mode by optimizing the degree of beating or the ply thickness. It is demonstrated that plasticity may be omitted in the analysis if one is only interested in characterizing the expected type of failure mode. An important key result is that, if the circumstances are that severe damage growth takes place in the crack-tip region, then delamination most likely occur which may be in contradiction to what is anticipated from classical theories of fracture mechanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with an innovative nondestructive technique for composites (local-IET), which is based on the Impulse Excitation Technique (IET) and, in the presence of damage, assesses the degradation of the elastic properties of a local region of the laminate by reversibly clamping its boundaries. In this paper, a numerical analysis of the sensitivity of the local-IET to the delamination damage mechanism is conducted. Firstly, a Finite Element (FE) model of the local-IET test is determined through experimental investigations on undamaged composite laminates, which cover a wide range and are made of glass or carbon fibers, through resin infusion or pre-preg consolidation and with unidirectional or fabric textures. The vibrational response of a glass fiber composite with local delamination is then assessed with the local-IET. By modeling the delamination in the simulation environment, the effectiveness of the FE model in replicating the vibrational response, even in the presence of delamination, is shown through a comparison with the experimental results. Finally, the FE model is exploited to perform a sensitivity analysis, showing that the technique is able to detect the presence of delamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article lists non-destructive testing (NDT)-related papers including "Update on ISO standards in condition monitoring and vibration," "AI for NDE 4.0--recent use cases," and "Principles for successful deployment of NDE 4.0."

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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the hydrogen embrittlement sensitivity of carbon gradient heterostructure materials and to verify the reliability of the scratch method. Design/methodology/approach: The surface-modified layer of 18CrNiMo7-6 alloy steel was delaminated to study its hydrogen embrittlement characteristics via hydrogen permeation, electrochemical hydrogen charging and scratch experiments. Findings: The results showed that the diffusion coefficients of hydrogen in the surface and matrix layers are 3.28 × 10−7 and 16.67 × 10−7 cm2/s, respectively. The diffusible-hydrogen concentration of the material increases with increasing hydrogen-charging current density. For a given hydrogen-charging current density, the diffusible-hydrogen concentration gradually decreases with increasing depth in the surface-modified layer. Fracture toughness decreases with increasing diffusible-hydrogen concentration, so the susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement decreases with increasing depth in the surface-modified layer. Originality/value: The reliability of the scratch method in evaluating the fracture toughness of the surface-modified layer material is verified. An empirical formula is given for fracture toughness as a function of diffused-hydrogen concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine how the thickness of layers and printing speed impact the energy absorption capacity of honeycomb structures through drop-weight experiments. In addition, the effect of printing orientation on the resulting microstructure and mechanical performance was targeted to be examined. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, after manufacturing test specimens using fused deposition modeling technique with three distinct layer thicknesses (0.16 mm, 0.20 mm and 0.28 mm) and printing speeds (40 mm/min, 50 mm/min and 70 mm/min), drop weight tests were carried out. Then to see the effect of printing orientation on mechanical performance, three-point-bending tests were performed and damage mechanisms were comparatively examined through scanning electron microscopy. Findings: An increase in layer thickness from 0.16 mm to 0.28 mm resulted in a notable 37% decrease in the impact resistance of the printed part. In addition, increasing the printing speed from 50 to 70 mm/min reduced the energy absorption capacity of the printed part by approximately 36.5%. Moreover, in terms of printing direction, transversely printed specimens showed 10% lower flexural strength than longitudinally printed specimens. Finally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation showed that internal defects were more prominent in transversely printed specimens, resulting in premature failure. Furthermore, delamination was also detected in transversely printed specimens as another damage mechanism accelerating material failure. Originality/value: It is seen that the effect of printing parameters on the fundamental mechanical properties including tensile strength, strain at break, ductility and elastic modulus were studied by various researchers. However, to the best of authors' knowledge, the effect of printing speed and layer thickness on the energy absorption of polylactic acid based hexagonal honeycomb was not encountered. In addition, in-depth SEM analysis to discover the influence of printing direction significantly contributes to the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, composite structures have been used in a large number of applications in aerospace, machinery, marine, and civil engineering. However, there are inevitably many uncertainties in the whole life cycle of composite structures, which can easily lead to structural damage and failure. Therefore, it is important to analyze the reliability and sensitivity of composite structures. At present, most of the contributions use the first-order reliability method (FORM) and the second-order reliability method (SORM) to study the reliability of composite structures and compare them with the results of the Monte Carlo simulation. However, both methods have their limitations. FORM cannot guarantee the calculation accuracy for the highly nonlinear limit state equation, and the calculation efficiency of SORM is too low. Therefore, this paper proposes to use importance sampling (IS) and backpropagation neural network-based Monte Carlo (MC-BPNN) to study the reliability, sensitivity, and dispersion of delamination growth of composite laminates. The results show that compared with FORM and SORM, IS and MC-BPNN have higher calculation accuracy and efficiency and can more accurately evaluate the failure degree of composite structures and ensure their safe operation in the field of aerospace equipment. The universality of this method can make it being widely used in the reliability and sensitivity analysis of different composite materials as well as dispersion analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for non-destructive testing of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) is becoming increasingly pressing to ensure its safety and reliability across different fields of use. However, the complex structural characteristics and anisotropic bulk conductivity of CFRP make achieving high sensitivity in detecting internal defects such as delamination extremely challenging. To address this issue, a novel triple rectangular coil probe with high sensitivity developed for detecting delamination in CFRP is presented in this paper. A finite element model using COMSOL Multiphysics was developed for CFRP delamination eddy current testing with the designed probe. Based on this model, the probe parameters were determined through orthogonal experiments. By analyzing the eddy current distribution in CFRP samples, the scanning mode was defined. Following this, the detection voltage was evaluated for various delamination parameters, and the sensitivity of different probes was compared. Results indicate that, under the same excitation coil parameters, for a 5 mm delamination lateral dimension change, the single pancake and single rectangular coil probes exhibit sensitivities of 88.24% and 72.55%, respectively, compared with the designed probe. For a 0.5 mm delamination thickness change, their sensitivities are 49.04% and 56.69% of those of the designed probe. The designed probe meets the demand for high-sensitivity detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their anisotropic behavior, composite structures are weak in transverse direction loading. produces transverse cracks, which for a laminated composite, may lead to delamination and total failure. The transition from transverse crack to delamination failure is important and the subject of recent studies. In this paper, a simulation of transverse crack and its transition to delamination on cross-ply laminate was studied extensively using a cohesive element Finite Element Method (FEM). A pre-cracked [0/90] composite laminate made of bamboo was modeled using ABAQUS/CAE. The specimen was in a three-point bending configuration. Cohesive elements were inserted in the middle of the 90° layer and in the interface between the 0° and 90° layer to simulate transverse crack propagation and its transition to delamination. A load–displacement graph was extracted from the simulation and analyzed. As the loading was given to the specimen, stress occurred in the laminates, concentrating near the pre-cracked region. When the stress reached the tensile transverse strength of the bamboo, transverse crack propagation initiated, indicated by the failure of transverse cohesive elements. The crack then propagated towards the interface of the [0/90] laminates. Soon after the crack reached the interface, delamination propagated along the interface, represented by the failure of the longitudinal cohesive elements. The result of the numerical study in the form of load–displacement graph shows a consistent pattern compared with the data found in the literature. The graph showed a linear path as the load increased and the crack propagated until a point where there was a load-drop in the graph, which showed that the crack was unstable and propagated quickly before it turned into delamination between the 0o and 90° plies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite pressure vessels can be exposed to extreme loadings, for instance, impact loading, during manufacturing, maintenance, or their service lifetime. These kinds of loadings may provoke both visible and invisible levels of damage, e.g., fiber breakage matrix cracks and delamination and eventually may lead to catastrophic failures. Thus, the quantification and evaluation of such damages are of great importance. Considering the cost of relevant full-scale experiments, a numerical model can be a powerful tool for such a kind of study. This paper aims to provide a numerical study to investigate the capability of different modeling methods to predict delamination in composite vessels. In this study, various numerical modeling aspects, such as element types (solid and shell elements) and material parameters (such as interface properties), were considered to investigate delamination in a composite pressure vessel under low-velocity impact loading. Specifically, solid elements were used to model each layer of the composite pressure vessel, while, in another model, shell elements with composite layup were considered. Compared with the available experimental data from low-velocity impact tests described in the literature, the capability of these two models to predict both mechanical responses and failure phenomena is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel statistical vibration-based damage detection method is developed considering uncertainties in measured resonance frequencies. The proposed method is based on the application of resonance frequencies as the most accurate and easiest measurable vibration feature. For proof of efficiency of the proposed method, case studies were undertaken using two identical composite plates, one delaminated and the other pristine. In this respect, the frequency response functions (FRFs) were measured and used as the main input to the Resonance Detection Algorithm as the proposed method. Applying these FRFs to a Resonance Detector Function can determine the resonant frequencies and their statistical distribution. Through the statistical distributions of the corresponding resonant frequencies, their reliability of detecting damage has been obtained via the beta distribution. By observing the damage detection reliability of the two sets of corresponding resonant frequencies, it has been determined that the changes in natural frequencies are due to structural changes and not random errors through measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delamination is one of the most feared failure modes in laminated composites and yet there is a lack of well established procedures to find the ply configuration with the highest delamination resistance for a given geometry of the component and a set of elastic and strength constraints. This paper presents a methodology for determining the quasi-isotropic ply sequence more resistant to delamination under off-axis uniaxial tension. Delamination is considered to be triggered by interlaminar stresses at free-edges or by matrix cracks. Two different ply thicknesses (standard and thin) and two sets of ply orientations (multiples of π /4 or π /8) are considered. The results show that the use of thin plies enlarges the design domain by up to 70% and generates a practically isotropic safe space. The methodology presented is also suitable for optimizing the delamination resistance of other load cases with stress singularities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a numerical investigation of the R-curve effect in delamination propagation in composite materials. The R-curve effect refers to the phenomenon whereby resistance to crack propagation increases with the advancement of the delamination, due to toughening mechanisms, such as fiber bridging. Numerical models often neglect this effect assuming a constant value of the fracture toughness. A numerical approach based on cohesive elements and on the superposition of two bilinear traction-separation laws is adopted here to accurately predict the R-curve effect in skin-doubler composite specimens subjected to three-point bending tests. The carbon-epoxy material presents two different sensitivities to the fiber bridging phenomenon resulting in two different R-curves. Comparisons with literature experimental data, in terms of load and delaminated area vs. applied displacement, and ultrasonic C-scan images show the effectiveness of the adopted approach in simulating the R-curve effect. The predicted numerical stiffness aligns with the experimental scatter, although the maximum load is slightly underestimated by approximately 15% compared with the average experimental results. The numerical model accurately predict the R-curve effect observed in the experimental data, demonstrating a 31% increase in the maximum load for the material configuration exhibiting greater sensitivity to fiber bridging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delamination in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite structures plays a significant role in reducing the stiffness and strength of the structure, thus downgrading the integrity and reliability of the system. Aiming at the problem that traditional linear Lamb wave technology is not sensitive to the layered defects of composite materials and the existing nonlinear Lamb wave method is difficult to locate and detect damage, this paper proposes an ultrasonic tomography method based on Lamb waves to detect and reconstruct the delamination defects in CFRP plate. The dynamic finite element analysis method is used to simulate the propagation process of A0 mode Lamb waves in the 14-layer cross-layer CFRP defect plate. Sixty-four sensors perform fan-beam scanning on the composite plate in an equal-angle arrangement to obtain time-of-flight data corresponding to the sensing path. The layered defects of the composite material are imaged and evaluated by the filtered back-projection method. The experimental results show that this method can obtain high-quality reconstructed images of layered defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to detect the damage of interior delamination in composite laminate using a new non-destructive testing method of highly nonlinear solitary waves. We studied the coupling mechanism between highly nonlinear solitary waves and interior delamination composite plate. Methods: The discrete element method is used for the one-dimensional particle chain, based on the residual stiffness model, Hertz's contact law and the composite plate vibration differential equation are used, we obtained the coupled differential equations for one-dimensional particle chain and interior delamination composite plate. We used the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method to solve the differential equations, and obtained the velocity curve and displacement curve of each particle in the particle chain. The influence of the thickness of the damaged composite plate, the average diameter of the interlaminar cracks, and the density of the interlaminar cracks on the reflected solitary waves are analyzed. We used one-dimensional homogeneous particle chain and one-dimensional composite particle chain to detect damaged composite plate with different material properties. Results: The results shows that the reflected waves are sensitive to the thickness of the plate, the average diameter of the interlaminar cracks and the density of the interlaminar cracks. We find that the propagation time of solitary waves in the composite particle chain is shorter and faster, and the detection efficiency can be increased by 23.5% at most. Conclusions: The characteristic information carried by reflected waves can be used for non-destructive testing of damaged composite plate. The research results of this paper enrich and improve the non-destructive testing of composite materials, and accelerate the practical application of one-dimensional particle chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the research presented in this paper was to simulate the relationship between selected technological drilling parameters (cutting speed, vc, and feed per tooth, fz) and cutting forces and the delamination in machining of a new glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite. Four different types of new materials were manufactured with the use of a specially designed pressing device and differed in the fiber type (plain and twill woven materials) and weight fraction (wf) ratio, but they had the same number of layers and the same stacking sequence. A vertical machining center Avia VMC800HS was used for drilling holes with a two-edge carbide diamond coated drill. Measurements of the cutting force Fz in the drilling process conducted with variable technological parameters were carried out on a special test stand, 9257B, from Kistler. The new ink penetration method, involving covering the drilled hole surface with a colored liquid that spreads over the inner surface of the hole showing damage, was used to determine the delamination area. The cause-and-effect relationship between the drilling parameters was simulated with the use of five machine learning (ML) regression models (Linear Regression; Decision Tree Regressor; Decision Tree Regressor with Ada Boost; XGBRF Regressor; Gradient Boosting Regressor). Gradient Boosting Regressor results showed that the feed per tooth had the greatest impact on delamination—the higher the feed was, the greater the delamination became. Push-out delamination factors had higher values for materials that were made of plain woven fibers. The lowest amplitude of the cutting force component Fz was obtained for the lowest tested feed per tooth of 0.04 mm for all tested materials, with the lowest values obtained for the materials with twill fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shape memory alloy (SMA) tufted composites have shown a significant improvement of the mechanical strength, fracture toughness, and delamination resistance of structural joints. This paper investigated the self-sensing functionality of SMA tufted carbon/epoxy composite T-joints to enable in situ strain monitoring for the detection of low-velocity impacts. Indeed, large deformations in the tufted composite due to impacts caused abrupt changes in electrical resistance of SMA filaments, which were used to trigger the detection system. An Arduino Mega controller was programmed to simultaneously extract and process real-time electrical resistance recordings from SMA tufts during impact tests conducted at 5 J and 10 J. Experimental results showed that the proposed SMA-enabled detection system can capture accurately the time of the impact and localise the delamination onset, thus demonstrating the truly multifunctional capabilities of proposed SMA tufted composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delamination is one of the most common types of damage in fiber-reinforced composites. In this paper, borrowing from the concept of defect modes in imperfect phononic crystals, we propose a method for identifying delamination damages in composite materials. Specifically, by periodically arranging concentrated masses on the surface of a finite carbon fiber beam, the carbon fiber beam becomes a phononic crystal, and defect modes in Bragg bandgaps can be observed when there is delamination. With the spectral element method formulation, we show that the frequencies of defect modes are directly related to the length and location of the delamination. By performing algebraic addition and subtraction on the generated defect mode frequencies when applying excitations at the two ends of a defected carbon fiber composite beam, an approximately linear correlation with the length and location of delamination can be obtained. Our analytical and experimental results indicate that, by introducing periodicity on the carbon fiber composite beam and applying appropriate post-processing algorithm to the generated defect modes, rapid and accurate identification of the delamination length and location can be achieved based on the bandgap characteristics of the imperfect phononic crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractPolyelectrolyte complexes are routinely used as adhesives to strengthen fiber-fiber contacts in paper. This work evaluates different approaches to putting the polyelectrolyte complexes into the adhesive joint. Instead of conventional wet paper mechanical testing, a wet cellulose film delamination technique was employed permitting direct comparison of different approaches to applying the polymeric adhesive to the cellulose-cellulose joint. The adhesion strengths of layer-by-layer polyelectrolyte complexes assembled on wet cellulose films and the adhesion strengths of the corresponding polyelectrolyte complex coated on wet cellulose films are compared. The wet adhesion strengths were measured by peel delamination. The polyelectrolyte complexes were based on mixtures of cationic polyvinylamine (PVAm) and anionic carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The layer-by-layer assemblies of PVAm and CMC yielded stronger wet adhesion than did coated films of the corresponding colloidal complexes or pure PVAm at the same coverage (mass of polymer/joint area). The role of CMC was to give ionic crosslinks with PVAm which increase the cohesive strength of thick PVAm layers. PVAm gives much stronger wet adhesion to cellulose compared to the oxidized silicon wafer surfaces. It is proposed that imine and aminal bonds can form between the polyamine and hemiacetals in the regenerated cellulose films which cannot form with silica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites have the advantages of being lightweight, having high strength and designability, and having been extensively used. However, the interlaminar toughness and delamination resistance of these composites are relatively poor due to their laminated structure and intrinsic brittleness of resin matrix. In this paper, commercialized free-standing carbon nanotube (CNT) films, drawn from CNT forests, were used to toughen the interlaminar interfaces of the composites. The effects of resin infiltration state and thickness of CNT films on the interlaminar toughening effect were systematically investigated. The results show that the pre-infiltration treatment of CNT films with acetone diluted epoxy resin solution can effectively improve the degree of resin infiltration. Compared with the samples containing untreated CNT film, the Mode I and Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness of the treated samples were significantly improved. The GIC reached a maximum of 1412.42 J/m2 at a CNT film thickness of 5 µm, which was about 61.38% higher than that of the baseline. At a CNT film thickness of 15 µm, the GIIC reached a maximum value of 983.73 J/m2, approximately 67.58% higher than that of the baseline. The corresponding toughening mechanisms were also systematically analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a low-in-plane damage ZPI (Z-pin pre-hole insertion) process. The delamination growth behavior and the influence of Z-pin insertion density on the mode I interlaminar fracture toughness of laminate was explored experimentally and numerically. Meanwhile, Z-pin pull-out and shear tests were conducted in order to provide accurate data for the DCB simulation test. What's more, an infinite-focus microscope was used to scan the specimen's defect caused by the ZPI process. It can be found that the ZPI process can lead to less Z-pin inclination, fibre breaking, and crack initiation at the bonded interface. The DCB test results show that the load-displacement curve can be distinguished into four stages for the pinned specimen. In addition, a specimen pinned with a higher Z-pin volume fraction to more suitable for increasing the G IC . The simulation results show that the simulated maximum load and the G IC of the specimen are 286.63 N and 940.06 J·m−2, with a 0.56% and 10.10% error from the experimental result, indicating that the proposed FE model is validated by comparing the predictions with the experimental results. These results can provide some guidance for fabricating the reinforced laminates via the ZPI process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the promising application of Distributed Optical Fiber Sensors (DOFS) in monitoring damage in composite structures, their implementation outside academia is still unsatisfactory due to the lack of a systematic approach to assessing their damage detection performance. The existing tool developed for non-destructive evaluation, Probability of Detection (POD) curves, needs to be adapted for structural health monitoring applications to account for spatial and temporal dependency. Damage detection performance with DOFS is deeply related to the inherent variability sources of the system, the strain transfer properties of the optical fiber, and the loading conditions, which determine the damage-induced strain on the structure. This paper establishes a systematic approach based on the Length at Detection (LaD) method to qualify DOFS for damage detection in composites under different scenarios. Specifically, this study considers two DOFS with different strain transfer properties for monitoring delamination in carbon fiber reinforced polymers double-cantilever beam specimens under mode I quasi-static and fatigue loading. The POD curves derived from the LaD method confirm that this methodology can quantify the change in the detection performance due to the DOFS type and the loading conditions. The study also proposes a practical solution to compare POD curves obtained with different sample sizes, by introducing the concept of virtual specimens to simulate the lower confidence bound convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite insulations, such as ceramics, are commonly utilized in the turbine system as a thermal coating barrier to protect the metal substrate against high temperatures and pressure. The presence of delamination in the composite insulations may cause turbine failure, leading to a catastrophic accident. Thus, regular non-destructive testing is required to detect and evaluate insulation defects. Among the non-destructive testing techniques, the microwave technique has emerged as a promising method for assessing defects in ceramic coatings. Although the method is promising, microwave non-destructive testing suffers from poor spatial imaging, making the defect assessment challenging. In this paper, a novel technique based on microwave non-destructive testing with a k-medoids clustering algorithm for delamination detection is proposed. The representative ceramic coating sample is scanned using a Q-band open-ended rectangular waveguide with 101 frequency points that operated between 33 to 50 GHz. The measured data is transformed from the frequency domain to the time domain using an inverse fast Fourier transform. The principal component analysis is then used to reduce the dimensionality of 101 time steps into only 3 dominant attributes. The attributes of each inspected location are classified as defect or defect-free using the k-medoids clustering algorithm for accurately detecting and sizing the defects in the ceramic insulation. The results reported in this paper highlight the superiority of the k-medoids clustering algorithm in delamination detection, with an accuracy rate of 95.4%. This is a significant step forward compared to earlier approaches for identifying ceramic defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radial displacement of hydrogen storage composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) is a key factor related to the collapse failure and burst pressure. However, there is still lack of effective method to monitor the radial displacement during the hydrostatic test and service process of the vessels. This paper proposed a method to measure the radial displacement based on fringe projection profilometry (FPP). Hydrostatic test with a composite overwrapped pressure vessel verifies the proposed method. The variation of displacement changing with inner pressures observed in the experiments is in agreement with that obtained from finite element analysis. Also Computed Tomography (CT) scanning is conducted and a widely spread micro defects is found in the composite layer of the cylinder. 78.9% of the total observed defects are small (<1000 mm2). In regions where large-sized defects (>1000 mm2) are concentrated, the total area of defects reaches 16,200 mm2. According to the statistical analysis, the strong correlation is found between the defects area and radial displacement. • Presented a novel method based on fringe projection profilometry (FPP) for monitoring the deformation of composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) during hydrostatic testing. • Employing 3D point clouds from FPP to reconstruct the cylinder and measure radial displacement. • The variation trend of radial displacement with pressure obtained by experiments is consistent with the finite element results. • Utilized Computed Tomography (CT) to detect and quantify micro delamination defects in the cylinders. • A significant correlation was found between the area of defects and radial displacement, while the relationship between the number of defects and radial displacement was less pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights This paper presents the effect of varying the type of Z‐pin on the delamination bridging performance of unidirectional composite laminates. Carbon and Kevlar Z‐pins were inserted in thick composite laminates using the pre‐hole insertion Z‐pinning process and their bridging performance characterized across the different mode‐mixity range. The bridging response indicated that Kevlar Z‐pin experienced load reduction driven by interfacial friction (Stage III), which was absent in the Carbon Z‐pin. When Mode II dominated the bridging crack, Kevlar Z‐pin showed partial pullout and fiber shear cracking, while the Carbon Z‐pin exhibited clean transverse fracture. Although the bridging load obtained by the Carbon Z‐pin was twice that of Kevlar Z‐pin, the Kevlar Z‐pin provided a higher interlaminar fracture energy. The superior bridging performance of Kevlar Z‐pin is correlated with the enhanced ductility. Moreover, the resin‐rich area was involved in deformation and provided the extra axial load of Z‐pin. The comparison of mixed‐mode bridging mechanism between Kevlar Z‐pin and Carbon Z‐pin. Reveal the variation of multi‐directional load and energy consumption with mixed‐mode angle in thick laminates. Detailed scanning electron microscope observation to understand failure characteristics of ductile Z‐pin. Evidence that the extra axial load of Z‐pin provided by resin‐rich area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comprehensively investigated the effect of the tool geometries on heat transfer and special crystallization characteristics in the drilling of carbon fiber‐reinforced polyetheretherketone (CF/PEEK) composite for the first time. Three tools with different geometries (twist, brad, and dagger drill) are carried out on CF/PEEK drilling experiments, and temperature, as well as crystallinity and surface roughness, are introduced to make a comparative evaluation on the effect of the tool geometries. The results show that the drilling temperature is determined by the contact length of the profile between the drill and the material. Correspondingly, better surface quality with lower surface roughness and smoother surface is obtained by using a twist drill due to the heat‐induced PEEK smearing effect. Further, in situ XRD and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) were used to characterize the crystallization characteristics where crystal phase transformation at different temperatures was measured. The occurring temperature of the strongest crystallization characteristics for CF/PEEK is basically not affected by tool geometries, all at 300°C, and the limiting crystallization temperature is 344.5 ± 0.7°C. The crystallinity is found to be affected by drilling temperature and cooling rate and gradually decreases along the heat transfer direction. This work provides a new sight into the improvement of CF/PEEK drilling. Highlights: The effect of tool geometries on thermal and crystallization for CF/PEEK is provided.In situ XRD and DSC are used to characterize crystallization characteristics.The drilling temperature and cooling rate are both determinants of crystallinity.The limiting crystallization temperature of the CF/PEEK composite is 344.5 ± 0.7°C.Heat‐induced PEEK smearing effect improves the surface quality of CF/PEEK drilling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents high‐fidelity observations of the time evolution of unstable delamination growth in tapered composite beams under tensile loading via ultra‐high‐speed camera in conjunction with digital image correlation. Asymmetrically tapered GFRP laminates, with a thickness drop from 18 plies to 12 plies, are manufactured in three different layup configurations with grouped drop‐offs: [06/(02)3/06], [06/06/06], and [06/(±45)3/06]. Beam specimens are subjected to quasi‐static tensile loading in a servo‐hydraulic axial testing machine, and the damage evolution on one edge of the tapered beam is monitored in situ at 124,000 fps with a high‐speed camera (HSC). In selected tests, digital image correlation (DIC) analyses are conducted either on the edge or on the tapered surface to obtain the full‐field strain and elucidate failure mechanisms. Real‐time HSC observations of the damage sequence consistently affirm that the initial failure mechanism is a transverse crack at the nearest drop‐off to the thin section, which is followed by delaminations at interfaces of sublaminates. Unstable delamination growth is characterized by measurements of lower bounds of crack tip speeds. The unique crack speed data provide evidence for the existing effect of through‐the‐thickness stresses on delamination growth. The detailed sequence and patterns of dynamic failure presented in this paper can serve as a benchmark to validate damage models used in simulations of tapered laminates. Highlights: The sequence of unstable delamination growth in tapered GFRP beams is investigated experimentally.Characterized unstable delamination growth based on crack tip speed measurements.Strain fields are evaluated along beam edges using DIC in real‐time.In‐situ observations of dynamic failure can serve as a benchmark to validate damage models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights GLARE laminate experiences multiple damage modes during bending failure, including fiber fracture, matrix cracking, interlayer delamination, and fracture of aluminum alloy. In most cases, two or more failure modes occur together, which makes the damage process complex and unpredictable. This paper proposes a combination of experimental testing and numerical simulation to investigate the influence of fiber lay‐up direction and center open‐hole on the bending failure behavior of GLARE laminate. Simultaneously, Acoustic Emission (AE) technology was used to monitor the bending process of GLARE laminates in real‐time, and a numerical simulation model for the three‐point bending of GLARE laminates was established. The experimental results showed that the bending strength of intact specimens decreased significantly with the increase of the fiber off‐axis angle, whereas the strength retention of open‐hole specimens increased significantly with the increase of the fiber off‐axis angle. Based on the K‐means++ clustering algorithm, the peak frequencies corresponding to different damage modes of GLARE laminates were identified as follows: aluminum alloy damage [1–70 kHz], matrix cracking [93–210 kHz], interlaminar delamination [211–304 kHz], and fiber breakage [304–516 kHz]. The simulation results agreed well with the experimental results, showing that the damage in intact specimens initiated at the laminate edges and propagated sequentially along the thickness direction, while the damage in open‐hole specimens initiated at the hole edges and then propagated towards the laminate edges. The present study investigated the effects of fiber lay‐up direction and central open‐hole on the bending performance and failure behavior of GLARE laminate. In‐situ monitoring of the GLARE laminate during three‐point bending was conducted using AE technology. A model for simulating the progressive damage of GLARE laminate was established and its accuracy was verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber‐reinforced composites acquire widespread use in the technologically advanced sectors on account of their lightweight and outstanding strength. Considering the significant connection between component quality and durability, bearing strength is a critical factor in the mechanically assembled parts during the manufacturing process. Therefore, in this paper, an experimental study was performed on hybrid glass fiber/aluminum‐mesh composites to assess the impact of abrasive water jet (AWJ) drilling on delamination and bearing strength. The samples were drilled, and the delamination damage was assessed. Finally, the bearing test was conducted on the sample in conformity with ASTM D5961M. The impact of stress distribution on the specimen's failure patterns was studied. Experimental outcomes reveal that the GFA specimen had a 2.9% higher average bearing strength than the AGF specimen. The drilling‐induced damage was determined to be the primary factor responsible for a 27% reduction in bearing strength. The optimization of operational parameters yields improved bearing load and lower damage. A significant level of conformity was detected by the regression accuracy and validation test results with a residual error of less than 10%. Highlights: A comparison of two hybrid composites utilizing various layouts for damage and load bearing.Delamination damage is a key factor in predicting the efficiency of bolted connections.Using optimized operation parameters enhances drilling output response significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new analytical approach to the embedding of delamination in the layerwise theory, which can be applied to determine the stress–strain state in the cross-section of laminated plates with internal delamination. The new approach is based on the layerwise theory, which transfers considerations from the level of the laminated plate to the level of the lamina. The paper presents a mathematical model and defines a calculation procedure for determining the state of the stress and strain in a cross-section with an internal delamination that occurred during plate production. The convergence and stability of the computational procedure, based on a new approach to the embedding of delamination in layerwise theory, are proven. It is also proven that the existence of internal delamination on the bond between layers of laminated plates significantly changes the stress-strain state of the cross-section, in relation to a cross-section without delamination. In numerical examples, the value of delamination in the plane (x, y) is determined and considered. The initial state after a static load or "zero state" of stress and strain in a cross-section with delamination represent the input for further and future nonlinear analyses that involve the growth, development, and propagation of delamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Present paper addresses the formulation of delamination-fretting wear failure predictive equation in HAp-Ti-6Al-4V interface of hip arthroplasty femoral stem component using multiple linear regression model. Design/methodology/approach: A finite element computational model utilising adaptive meshing algorithm via ABAQUS/Standard user subroutine UMESHMOTION is developed. The developed FE model is employed to examine effect of different HAp-Ti-6Al-4V interface mechanical and tribological properties on delamination-fretting wear behaviour. The FE result is utilised to formulate predictive equations for different stress ratio conditions using multiple linear regression analysis. Findings: Delamination-fretting wear predictive equations are successfully formulated with significant goodness of fit and reliability as a fast failure prediction tool in HAp coated hip arthroplasty. The robustness of predictive equations is validated as good agreement is noted with actual delamination-fretting wear results. Research limitations/implications: The influence of different mechanical and tribological properties such as delamination length, normal loading, fatigue loading, bone elastic modulus and cycle number under different stress ratio on delamination-fretting wear failure is analysed to formulate failure predictive equations. Practical implications: The formulated predictive equation can serve as a fast delaminationfretting wear failure prediction tool in hip arthroplasty femoral stem component. Originality/value: Limited attempt is done to explore the potential of utilizing multiple linear regression model to predict failures in hip arthroplasty. Thus, present study attempt to formulate delamination-fretting wear failure predictive equation in HAp-Ti-6Al-4V interface of hip arthroplasty femoral stem component using multiple linear regression model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, pultruded GFRP bars are investigated to determine their fracture properties. The double cantilever beam test (DCB) is used to assess fracture behavior under mode I loading conditions. However, due to the presence of the R-curve effect (variable fracture energy dependent on the length of the crack), it is necessary to introduce a nonstandard approach to determine fracture properties. The mixed experimental–numerical approach is proposed to deal with this issue. Numerical simulations were carried out in Simulia Abaqus, and with Python scripting it was possible to generate models and obtain R-curve for the material. The numerical model built based on the experimental results has very good agreement with it (force–displacement and delamination length–time characteristics) which allows the use of the mentioned model in the analysis of more complex structures. Acoustic emission analysis was introduced as an auxiliary technique. The delamination obtained from both the numerical model and the experiment complies with the registered acoustic emission events. The proposed method can be used in preparing a material model for other composite materials, which display the presence of the R-curve effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tests of welds are carried out inter-operatively, during the execution of the steel structure, as well as after the structure is welded, but even before its assembly. Steel structures already in service are also examined to detect potential cracks, delamination, or corrosion loss of thickness having the effect of weakening the mechanical strength of the structure. Such examinations are some the elements that comprise a structural health assessment. In this paper, the metal memory method was used to evaluate the effect of the welding method and weld temperature on the change in magnetic field strength. S235JR structural steel was used for the study, which was subjected to milling and MMA, TIG, and MIG welding. The results of measurement experiments carried out for each welding method are presented as graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the effect of the winding angle and the number of folds on the delamination behavior of vinyl ester resin-fiberglass composites under mode-I loading was investigated experimentally. Accordingly, double cantilever beam samples with 8 and 12 folds and with different winding angles (±45°, ±55° and ±65°) were cut out of industrial pipes and subjected to mechanical tests. Furthermore, thick films were introduced during the winding process to create initial cracks of 50mm. The Mode-I fracture tests were conducted according to ASTM D5528-94a standards. Results show that the [±65°] winding angle provides the best delamination behavior and greater resistance to cracking compared to the [±55°] and [±45°] winding angles. Results also show that the number of folds has no effect on the initiation of the crack stage, but it significantly affects the propagation stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their inexpensive cost and superior qualities compared to conventional metals, Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) composites are frequently used in engineering applications. Despite the development of numerous non-traditional drilling methods, traditional mechanical drilling methods based on CNC machines are still utilized as the primary applications for composites due to their financial advantages. Damage in the composite materials during the drilling process due to delamination often happens. The delamination has directly related to the drilling force. A dynamic model of the drilling force is a function of the feed rate. Due to the unpredictable nature of the composite material's physical and chemical properties, it may be challenging to realize the dynamics of the drilling process in this material. In this paper, the mathematical model of the drilling process is obtained experimentally based on system identification. Then, to address the problem of controlling the drilling force of composite materials, this paper proposes a Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) based on the Enhanced Flower Pollination Algorithm (EFPA) to handle the uncertainties and time-varying dynamics of the drilling process. The performance of the proposed controller is evaluated based on the Integral Time of Absolute Error (ITAE) index. The simulation results show that the proposed controller is effective in avoiding drilling-induced delamination in composite under different operation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, three-dimension failure behaviour of L-shaped composite beam with manufacturing defects was studied under four-point bending test condition. First, X-ray computed tomography scan was performed for L-shape laminated composite beam specimen to detect manufacturing defects such as voids, pre-delamination, and wrinkles or ply waviness. The scan images were then converted to three-dimensional volumetric entity through image processing, from which finite element mesh was generated with the detected defects directly incorporated. Next, three-dimensional progressive failure analysis was performed for the finite element model of the L-shaped laminate composite simulating four-point bending test condition with delamination and matrix failure in 90 degree plies accounted for by using cohesive zone modelling. The predicted maximum load was well matched to that obtained by tests validating the analysis modeling. Then a series of parametric studies were performed to investigate the effect of defect size and location on the failure load and delamination propagation pattern. It was found that the maximum load reduction was the largest when the pre-defect was located at the center of the symmetrical portion of the L-beam. In addition, the maximum load and delamination development behavior varied significantly depending on the interlayer and in-plane position of the pre-defect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cohesive elements are routinely used to simulate delamination between plies in composites. However, the allowable maximum size of these elements is limited, owing to the presence of a very small process zone ahead of the cohesive crack-tip, which needs to be discretised with multiple elements for obtaining an accurate failure response. This restricts their applicability beyond analysing delamination in coupon scale problems, due to the need for a very fine mesh and associated large problem size. In this paper, a novel hp cohesive element is developed to address this problem. This element is capable of simultaneous mesh refinement and elevation of interpolation order, locally and adaptively around the propagating cohesive crack tip. Additional degrees of freedom associated with the hp refinement are handled by extra nodes already supplied in the initial mesh file, that are selectively activated by the program as required. Several example problems are presented showing the ability of this method to improve the prediction of delamination onset and growth in extremely coarse meshes with a reduced computational time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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