Accelerating Computational Damage Analysis of Composites with a Hybrid Implicit–Explicit Approach

Composite materials and structures are widely used in the aerospace industry. Computational progressive damage and failure analysis (PDFA) is critical to composite structural safety certification but remains computationally heavy, often requiring hours to weeks to yield valid damage predictions. In this paper, we propose a hybrid implicit–explicit (HIMEX) approach to perform PDFA for composites. HIMEX is implemented as an automated state-transfer workflow in ABAQUS that switches from implicit to explicit analysis during PDFA. It initiates the analysis with implicit algorithms for the early, minimal-damage stage, then seamlessly transfers to an explicit analysis once significant damage evolution begins. In this way, HIMEX leverages the efficiency of implicit algorithms and the robustness of explicit algorithms. Its effectiveness is demonstrated with open-hole tension/compression and compression-after-impact problems, showing computational efficiency improvements of up to 56% and accuracy losses below 5%, mostly under 2%, relative to fully explicit analyses. Rather than developing a new finite element (FE) solver or constitutive model, HIMEX leverages native implicit/explicit solvers and PDFA material models. Thus, HIMEX can be implemented in most commercial FE packages, provided that the required material state information can be transferred consistently. The proposed HIMEX approach may significantly accelerate PDFA for composites.