Progressive failure analysis of composite laminates subjected to in-plane compressive and shear loadings

Abstract

The objectives of the present work are (i) to study the progressive failure of symmetric and un-symmetric laminates under the action of bi-axial compression combined with in-plane positive shear loading, and (ii) to study the progressive failure of symmetric and unsymmetric laminates under the action of bi-axial compression combined with in-plane negative shear loading. The first-order shear deformation theory and the von Karman geometric non-linearity hypothesis are used to develop the finite element formulation. For the case of bi-axial compression combined with in-plane positive or negative shear loading, the tensor polynomial form of the three-dimensional Tsai-Hill criterion is used to predict the failure of the lamina. The maximum stress criterion is used to predict the onset of delamination at the interface between two adjacent layers. The influences of plate aspect ratio, symmetric and un-symmetric lay-ups, and fiber orientations on the deflection response, the buckling load, the first-ply failure load, the ultimate failure load, the failure mode and the maximum deflection associated with failure loads are determined.