The field of laminated composite materials is both

old and new. It is old in the sense that it was in the

early 1960s that scientists and engineers started to

study seriously and apply the vast potential of fabricated

fibrous composite materials. It is new in the sense

that today the development of new materials and processes

as well as new applications is accelerating,

especially in that aeronautical and space industries;

this is the consequence of considerable research and

technological progress.

The course deals with the crucial central question: how

can one predict the evolution of damage up to and including

final fracture?

Emerging yet mature answers will be presented. First,

a description of today's common approaches in industrial

environments will be given, along with their limits

regarding the design and calculation of stratified composite

structures. More generally, the course stems from

the current understanding of the mechanisms of damage

and their evolution on the micro, meso and macro scales,

in particular due to the research at LMT-Cachan and

the accrued experience in identification, numerical analysis

and dimensioning at EADS-Innovation Works.

The course also emphasizes the damage mesomodel initiated

at LMT-Cachan and used today in a number of calculation

codes. This advanced yet pragmatic tool for the

prediction of damage in stratified materials has become

mature thanks particularly to the works of LMT-Cachan

on its relation to micromechanics, EADS-Innovation

Works on its identification, and DLR on its application to

impact and crash problems.

The course aims to give engineers and researchers the

most complete view possible of the state-of-the-art and

emerging techniques in damage prediction and failure

analysis of laminated composite structures.