Mixed-formulation with non-penetration constraint for planar composite beams in partial interaction

This paper presents a new mixed finite element model for material and geometric non-linear analysis of composite beams in partial interaction taking into account the non-penetration condition between layers. The Hu–Washizu functional with three independent fields is chosen for the developed mixed formulation. The force fields in the connection are chosen as the redundant forces and approximated using interpolation functions. The remaining force fields are obtained from solving equilibrium equations so that the element equlibrium is verified. Nevertheless, the compatibility as well as the constitutive law is satisfied only in a weak sense. The geometric non-linearity is taken into account by adopting the co-rotational approach. In this paper, the contact condition is imposed at the element level. Augmented Lagrangian method with Uzawa iteration algorithm is used to solve the contact problem. It has been shown that the proposed mixed formulation gives a more accurate result with less elements comparing to classical displacement based model. Besides, the buckling behaviour of delaminated two-layered composite columns has been studied by using the developed mixed formulation model. It has been observed that the buckling strength of the composite column can be overestimated if the uplift is not considered in the model.