On crack tunneling and plane-strain delamination in laminates

Abstract

Previous numerical work on crack tunnelling and plane-strain delamination in layered solids is evaluated with static and fatigue experiments and analysis. It is concluded that the translation of the theory derived for static fracture to fatigue loading is not as straightforward as initially assumed. Details such as delamination location, stress state, plasticity and mode-mixity need further consideration to obtain a theory that is sufficiently adequate to describe the static and fatigue phenomena observed in practice. © The Author(s) 2008.