%0 Book Section %A Carpinteri, Alberto %A Paggi, Marco %A Zavarise, Giorgio %B IUTAM Symposium on Computational Methods in Contact Mechanics %D 2007 %F eprints:1950 %I Springer %P 147-156 %S IUTAM Bookseries %T A Coupled Contact and Decohesion Analysis of Laminated Beams %U http://eprints.imtlucca.it/1950/ %V 3 %X The problem of interface decohesion in laminated beams is addressed with reference to the double cantilever beam (DCB) geometry. The paper deals with the analysis of the influence of non-uniform bonding properties or interfacial defects on the crack propagation process and its stability. In spite of the relative simplicity of the considered case study, which is under pure Mode I deformation, a contact problem takes place due to the decohesion. The occurrence of contact makes the problem highly non-linear, since the extension of the contact area is a priori unknown. The finite element method with a generalized interface constitutive law is used to enforce the contact constraint along the interface and to model the progress of the delamination process. %Z Proceedings of the IUTAM Symposium held in Hannover, Germany, November 5–8, 2006