Evolution of ply cracks in multidirectional composite laminates

✍ Scribed by Chandra Veer Singh; Ramesh Talreja

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 899 KB
• Volume: 47
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7683
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2010.01.016

✦ Synopsis

This paper treats evolution of ply cracks in multidirectional composite laminates subjected to a quasistatic tensile load in the longitudinal direction. Starting with pre-existing ply cracks in off-axis plies, the formation of additional cracks is analyzed by an energy-based approach. A critical laminate energy parameter associated with formation of these cracks is defined and is evaluated using experimental data for a reference cross-ply laminate. The modeling approach requires crack surface displacements, which are calculated by a three-dimensional finite element (3-D FE) analysis performed on a suitable representative volume of the given cracked laminate. The model predictions agree well with experimental data for ½0= AE h 4 =0 1=2 s and ½0=90= Ç 45 s laminates. A parametric study is conducted to evaluate effects of ply thickness and ply stacking sequence on damage evolution in ½0 m =90 n = Ç h p s laminates.