Isogeometric cohesive zone model for thin shell delamination analysis based on Kirchhoff-Love shell model

We present a cohesive zone model for delamination in thin shells and composite structures.The isogeometric(IGA)thin shell model is based on Kirchhoff-Love theory.Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines(NURBS)are used to discretize the exact mid-surface of the shell geometry exploiting their C 1-continuity property which avoids rotational degrees of freedom.The fracture process zone is modeled by interface elements with a cohesive law.Two numerical examples are presented to test and validate the proposed formulation in predicting the delamination behavior of composite structures.