Experimental and analytical comparisons of failure in thermoplastic composite laminates

Failure characteristics of Gr/PEEK were studied, using an experimental investigation and a fully nonlinear ply-by-ply finite-element technique. The stacking sequence of the laminates (with centrally located holes) investigated were: 0, 90, ±45 deg, (0/45/90/−45 deg)_2s and (0±45/90 deg)_2s. The [0 deg] laminate failure was characterized by splitting at the extremities of the hole and along the fibers. The [90 deg] laminates failed in the transverse direction, whereas the [±45 deg] laminates exhibited considerable elongation to failure. In the case of the quasi-isotropic laminates, the failure progression appeared to be due dominantly to matrix cracking followed by fiber failure. Analytical predictions of the failure process showed reasonably good correlation with the experimentally determined data.     

多参量断裂力学广义杂交/混合裂纹有限元法

通过研究广为人知的断裂力学单变量八节点位移裂纹QPE元和Akin族奇异单元法，本文运用经典局部裂纹解析解，与非协调假设应力杂交-混合元列式方法相结合，提出用于分层各向异性材料的多变量半解析假设应力奇异广义杂交／混合裂纹有限元法，能克服现有位移裂纹元法的域应力分布精度低和高次单元所需计算容量大的局限性，互为补充，更有利于结构裂纹扩展分析和应用研究。文中设计了一个半解析奇异裂纹平面单元，各向同性材料板算例验证了退化二次八节点协调位移裂纹元及六节点非协调奇异应力裂纹元，说明采用稀疏及加密单元网格，两类裂纹单元分别从上下逼近收敛于实验和理论参考解，可得到吻合程度较好的1／√r奇异应变和应力分量以及应力强度因子值，表明了本文奇异裂纹单元理论的优越性。     

On the use of crack-tip-opening displacement to predict the fracture strength of notched graphite/epoxy laminates

The fracture strength and crack-opening displacement of notched graphite/epoxy laminates were measured experimentally using the center-cracked tension-specimen geometry. Four replicate tests were conducted for a variety of laminate stacking sequences, thicknesses, and notch lengths. Most laminates exhibited extensive notch-tip damage prior to fracture. Values of crack-tip-opening displacement (CTOD) at fracture were estimated from values of crack-opening displacement measured at the crack center line. CTOD was independent of specimen crack length for the [0/±45/90] _s , [0/±45/90]_15s , [0/±45] _s , [0/±45/]_15s , and [0/90]_24s laminates. In addition, notched laminate strength was accurately predicted using a Dugdale-type model along with the estimated CTOD.Paper was presented at V International Congress on Experimental Mechanics held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on June 10–15, 1984.     

Effect of laminate construction on residual stresses in graphite/polyimide composites

The influence of ply-stacking sequence and ply orientation on the magnitude of lamination residual stresses in graphite/polyimide angle-ply laminates was investigated. The effect of stacking sequence was investigated with laminates of [0₂/±45]_s, [±45/0₂]_s, [0/+45/0/?45]_s and [+45/0₂/?45]_s layup. The effect of ply orientation was evaluated with additional specimens of [0₂/±15]_s and [0₂/90₂]_s layup. Thermal strains were measured using embedded-gage techniques. Residual strains were determined by comparing thermal strains in the angle-ply laminates with those of a unidirectional laminate. The ply-stacking sequence did not have an influence on the magnitude of residual strains. The highest residual strains occur in the [0₂/90₂]_s laminate and the lowest, approximately one-fourth in magnitude, occur in the [0₂/±15]_s laminate. The maximum residual strains in the [0₂/±45]_s group are slightly lower than those in the [0₂/90₂]_s laminate. Residual stress computations show that, at room temperature, the transverse-to-the-fibers stresses in all plies, except those of the [0₂/±15]_s laminate, exceed the transverse tensile strength of the unidirectional material.     

Singular finite elements for the sudden-expansion and the die-swell problems

The singular finite element method is used to solve the sudden-expansion and the die-swell problems in order to improve the accuracy of the solution in the vicinity of the singularity and to speed up the convergence. The method requires minor modifications to standard finite element schemes, and even coarse meshes give more accurate results than refined ordinary finite element meshes. Improved normal stress results for the sudden-expansion problem have been obtained for various Reynolds numbers up to 100 using the singular elements constructed for the creeping flow problem. In addition, the normal stresses at the walls appear to be insensitive to the singularity powers used in the construction of the singular basis functions. The die-swell problem is solved using the singular elements constructed for the stick–slip problem. The singular elements accelerate the convergence of the free surface dramatically.     

Singular stress fields near contact boundaries in a composite bolted joint

Singular stresses arising in the neighborhood of contact surfaces introduced in laminated orthotropic plates by mechanical joining with clamp-up were investigated by using local asymptotic solutions and full-field numerical analysis. Three-dimensional B-spline approximation of the displacements and a penalty function-based contact solution was used in the numerical analysis. Recent work has shown that fracture in bolted composite joints may initiate near the outer edge of the bolt head or washer away from the hole edge, particularly if the joint is preloaded. Material and geometric discontinuities exist in these regions, resulting in singular stress behavior. Asymptotic stress analysis was performed to obtain the power of singularity in these regions as a function of the bolt-head (washer) stiffness. Frictionless contact conditions were assumed. It was found that the characteristics of the stress singularity for such practically important combinations as titanium bolt-head and carbon fiber composite plate are similar to a crack in terms of the power of singularity and uniqueness of the singular term. Coefficients of the singular terms of the asymptotic expansion were determined by comparison with the numerical solution in the close vicinity of the singular contour. Good agreement between the asymptotic and numerical solution in the transition regions was observed.     

Three-dimensional stress analysis of textile composites: Part I. Numerical analysis

Three-dimensional stress analysis in a unit-cell of a plain-woven composite was performed by using B-spline displacement approximation. The spline approximation provides continuity of displacement and stress components within each yarn and matrix subregion. Two types of unit-cell problems with and without inter-yarn delamination were considered. A penalty function approach along with a contact surface characteristic function was used to obtain a full-field numerical solution for the frictionless contact problem between delaminated yarn surfaces.Yarn interfaces at yarn-crossover locations represent three-material wedge-type regions resulting in singular stress behavior. In the case of unit-cells with perfect bonding between the yarn interfaces, the numerical values of the inter-yarn normal stress did not exhibit trends typical for unbounded stress behavior, whereas the inter-yarn shear stress components displayed discontinuous behavior typical for numerical results in the vicinity of the stress singularity. In the presence of the delamination, both the inter-yarn normal and shear stress components exhibited unbounded behavior near the singularity. Notably, the inter-yarn normal stress showed signs of singular behavior in both cases of open and closed delaminations. Due to the stress singularity that exists at yarn-crossover locations containing three materials (yarn–yarn–matrix) interface intersections, the full-field numerical solution, even with high-order approximation functions, was not able to capture the directional nonuniqueness of the stress values in the vicinity of the singularity, and therefore calls for incorporation of the asymptotic singular stress analysis, which will be given in a follow-on paper [Sihn and Roy, International Journal of Solids and Structures (accepted for publication)].     

Biaxial testing of [O2/±45] s graphite/epoxy plates with holes

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the behavior under biaxial-tensile loading of [O₂/±45] _s graphite/epoxy plates with circular holes and to determine the influence of hole diameter on failure. The specimens were 40-cm×40-cm (16-in.×16-in.) graphite/epoxy plates of [O₂/±45] _s layup. Four hole diameters, 2.54 cm (1.00 in.), 1.91 cm (0.75 in.), 1.27 cm (0.50 in.) and 0.64 cm (0.25 in.), were investigated. Deformations and strains were measured using strain gages and birefringent coatings. Biaxial tension in a 2∶1 ratio was applied by means of four whiffle-tree grip linkages and controlled with a servohydraulic system. Stress and strain redistributions occur around the hole at a stress level corresponding to localized failure around the 67.5-deg location and nonlinear strain response at the 0-deg location. Maximum measured strains at failure on the hole boundary are higher (approximately 0.016) than the highest ultimate strain of the unnotched laminate (0.010). Two basic patterns of failure were observed: (a) horizontal cracking initiating at points off the horizontal axis and accompanied by extensive delamination of the subsurface ±45 deg plies, and (b) vertical cracking along vertical tangents to the hole and accompanied by delamination of the outer 0-deg plies. The strength reduction ratios are lower than corresponding values for uniaxial loading by approximately 16 percent, although the stress-concentration factor under biaxial loading is lower.     

Effects of material and stacking sequence on behavior of composite plates with holes

Strain distributions to failure, tensile and compressive strain-concentration factors, and strength-reduction factors were determined for glass-, boron-, and graphite-epoxy plates with holes loaded in tension. Strain gages, photoelastic coatings and moiré techniques were used. Ten variations of layup and stacking sequence were studied. The boron-epoxy composite was found to be the stiffest and strongest of the three. The graphite laminate with the highest stress concentration and the most linear strain response exhibited the highest strength-reduction factor. In all cases, the maximum strain at failure on the hole boundary was higher than the ultimate tensile-coupon strain. In general, it was found that, the higher the stress-concentration factor, the higher the strength-reduction factor. Thus, the [0/90/0/90]_s layup with a stress-concentration factor of 4.82 had a strength-reduction factor of 3.18. At the other extreme, the most flexible layup [±45/±45]_s with the lowest stress-concentration factor of 2.06 had the lowest strength-reduction factor of 1.10. Stacking sequences associated with the tensile interlaminar normal stress or high interlaminar shear stress near the boundary, resulted in laminates 10 to 20 percent weaker than corresponding alternate stacking sequences. Furthermore, it was found that stacking-sequence variations can alter the mode of failure from catastrophic to noncatastrophic.     

基于修正权函数的多裂纹无网格模拟

本文采用了一种基于不连续场修正权函数的无网格方法来处理二维平面多裂纹问题。相较于传统的无网格断裂不连续场和奇异场模拟方法,修正权函数法算法简便易实现。采用修正权函数处理多裂纹时,只需要对每一段裂纹周围节点的权函数进行修正,就能同时模拟多裂纹不连续位移场和多裂尖奇异场。本文采用基于不连续场修正权函数的无单元Galerkin方法（EFGM）,对Y型裂纹板、十字型裂纹板和孔边双裂纹板进行了分析。数值结果表明,在不引入扩展基函数情况下,通过修正权函数法能够得到精度较高的应力强度因子解,能较好地拟合多裂纹的裂尖奇异场。     

Residual Stress Measurement in Composite Laminates Using Incremental Hole-Drilling with Power Series

Current methods for incremental hole-drilling in composite laminates have not been successfully applied in laminates of arbitrary construction or where significant variation of residual stress exists within a single ply. This work presents a method to overcome these limitations. Series expansion is applied to each ply orientation separately so that the discontinuities in the residual stresses at ply interfaces can be correctly captured. Temperature variations described by power series are used to set up eigenstrains and consequent stresses which vary in the through-thickness direction. The calibration coefficients at each incremental hole depth are calculated through the use of finite element modelling. The inverse solution employs a least-squares approach which makes the resulting solution insensitive to measurement uncertainty. Robust uncertainties in the residual stress distributions are determined using Monte Carlo simulation. The residual stress distribution is found from that combination of series orders in the different ply orientations that has the lowest RMS uncertainty, selected only from those combinations that have converged. The method is demonstrated on a GFRP laminate of [0₂/+45/?45]_s construction where it is found that transverse cracking of the plies at the inner surface of the hole may have impacted on the accuracy of the results.     

An investigation into the stresses in double-lap adhesive joints with laminated composite adherends

The mechanics of double-lap joints with unidirectional ([0₁₆]) and quasi-isotropic ([0/90/?45/45]_2S) composite adherends under tensile loading are investigated experimentally using moiré interferometry, numerically with a finite element method and analytically through a one-dimensional closed-form solution. Full-field moiré interferometry was employed to determine in-plane deformations of the edge surface of the joint overlaps. A linear-elastic two-dimensional finite element model was developed for comparison with the experimental results and to provide deformation and stress distributions for the joints. Shear-lag solutions, with and without the inclusion of shear deformations of the adherend, were applied to the prediction of the adhesive shear stress distributions. These stress distributions and mechanics of the joints are discussed in detail using the results obtained from experimental, numerical and theoretical analyses.     

Residual stress analysis near a cold expanded hole in a textured alclad sheet using X-ray diffraction

In this paper we present the methods of determination and the stress obtained at the periphery of a cold expanded hole in a 2024-T3 Alclad aluminum alloy sheet. The measurements in the aluminum clad were performed by the sin²Ψ method, taking experimental precautions to deal with the texture effects. In the core aluminum a special method had to be implemented to determine the stress values in a direction not accessible to the X-ray diffraction. The strains were measured in sample orientations selected according to the texture characteristics and stress factorsF _ij were used to calculate the stress tensor. TheF _ij values were determined assuming a quasi-isotropic material behavior, after concluding that the stress results were not significantly affected by factors calculated for textured material. The residual stress profile, both in the clad and in the sheet, shows a nearly axisymmetric stress state. Compressive stresses were observed near the periphery of the hole, with values that are higher on the exit than on the entrance face. Residual stresses were also higher in the hoop direction than in the radial direction. They decreased with the radial distance to the hole and affected the previous stress state over a distance of 6 mm. The plastic deformation induced by the cold expansion is well evidenced by the FWHM values, which in the affected zone decrease with increasing distance from the hole edge.     

Application of the extended Kantorovich method to the bending of clamped cylindrical panels

Applicability and performance of the extended Kantorovich method (EKM) to obtain highly accurate approximate closed form solution for bending analysis of a cylindrical panel is studied. Fully clamped panel subjected to both uniform and non-uniform loadings is considered. Based on the Love–Kirchhoff first approximation for thin shallow cylindrical panels, the governing equations of the problem in terms of three displacement components include a system of two second order and one forth order partial differential equations. The governing PDE system is converted to a double set of ODE systems by assuming separable functions for displacements together with utilization of the extended Kantorovich method. The resulted ODE systems are solved iteratively. In each iteration, exact closed form solutions are presented for both ODE systems. Rapid convergence and high accuracy of the method is shown for various examples. Both displacement and stress predictions show close agreement with other analytical and finite element analysis.     

A hybrid stress approach for laminated composite plates within the First-order Shear Deformation Theory

This paper presents a hybrid stress approach for the analysis of laminated composite plates. The plate mechanical model is based on the so called First-order Shear Deformation Theory, rationally deduced from the parent three-dimensional theory. Within this framework, a new quadrilateral four-node finite element is developed from a hybrid stress formulation involving, as primary variables, compatible displacements and elementwise equilibrated stress resultants. The element is designed to be simple, stable and locking-free. The displacement interpolation is enhanced by linking the transverse displacement to the nodal rotations and a suitable approximation for stress resultants is selected, ruled by the minimum number of parameters. The transverse stresses through the laminate thickness are reconstructed a posteriori by simply using three-dimensional equilibrium. To improve the results, the stress resultants entering the reconstruction process are first recovered using a superconvergent patch-based procedure called Recovery by Compatibility in Patches, that is properly extended here for laminated plates. This preliminary recovery is very efficient from the computational point of view and generally useful either to accurately evaluate the stress resultants or to estimate the discretization error. Indeed, in the present context, it plays also a key role in effectively predicting the shear stress profiles, since it guarantees the global convergence of the whole reconstruction strategy, that does not need any correction to accommodate equilibrium defects. Actually, this strategy can be adopted together with any plate finite element. Numerical testing demonstrates the excellent performance of both the finite element and the reconstruction strategy.     

Solution of the elastic boundary value problems for a layer with tunnel stress raisers

A novel procedure for solving three-dimensional problems for elastic layer weakened by through-thickness tunnel cracks has been developed and is presented in this paper. This procedure reduces the given boundary value problem to an infinite system of one-dimensional singular integral equations and is based on a system of homogeneous solutions for a layer. Integral representations of single- and double-layer potentials are used for metaharmonic and harmonic functions entering in the singular integral equations. These representations provide a continuous extendibility of the stress vector while allowing a jump in the displacement vector in the transition through the cut.Expanding the potential and biharmonic solutions in the Fourier series over the thickness coordinate yields the integral representations of the displacement vector and stress tensor. The problem of reducing a denumerable set of the integral equations of the given boundary value problem to one-to-one correspondence with the set of unknown densities appearing in the Fourier’s coefficient representations has been settled efficiently. Numerical investigations show a rapid convergence of the proposed reduction procedure as applied to the solution of the infinite system of one-dimensional integral equations. Numerical examples illustrate the proposed method and demonstrate its advantages.     

Fracture of composite laminates containing cracks due to shear loading

The responses of graphite/epoxy [0/90/±45] _s , [±45]_2s , [0/90]_2s and [0/±45]_2s composite laminates with and without center cracks were studied under shear loading using the three-rail shear test. The shear stress/strain relationship, the failure mechanisms and the notched strength were analyzed. Substantial amounts of local buckling were observed in some of the laminates. The present paper shows that shear modulus can be determined accurately using the three-rail shear test with proper interpretation of data. Using the minimum strength model, only one characteristic length was needed to predict accurately the notched strength of a composite laminate under shear and tensile loadings.Paper was presented at the 1987 SEM Spring Conference on Experimental Mechanics held in Houston, TX on June 14–19.     

Behavior of Pin-loaded Laminated Composites

In this study, an investigation was carried out to determine the effects of joint geometry and fiber orientation on the failure strength and failure mode in a pinned joint laminated composite plate. Behavior of pin-loaded laminated composites with different stacking sequence and different dimensions has been observed experimentally. E/glass–epoxy composites were manufactured to fabricate the specimens. Mechanical properties of the composites were characterized under tension, compression and in-plane shear in static loading conditions. Laminated composites were loaded through pins. Single-hole pin-loaded specimens were tested for their tensile response and width-to-hole diameter (W/D) and edge distance-to-hole diameter (E/D) ratios evaluated. A series of experiments was performed with six different material configurations ([0/±45]_s–[90/±45]_s, [0/90/0]_s–[90/0/90]_s and [90/0]_2s–[±45]_2s), in all, over 120 specimens. E/D ratios and W/D ratios of plates were changed from 1 to 5 and 2 to 5, respectively. Failure propagation and failure type were observed on the specimens. The influence of the joint geometry on the strength of the pin-loaded composites was assessed. When laminated composite plates were loaded to final failure, three basic failure modes consisting of net-tension, shear out and bearing failure were observed for the different geometric dimensions. All the connections tested showed that the fiber orientations have a definite influence on the position around hole circumference at which failure initiated. Net-tension failure occurred for specimens that had small width and large end distance. When the width was increased, the specimens which had small end distances failed in the shear-out modes. When the end distance was increased, bearing failure developed in addition to shear-out failure. The experimental results showed that the ultimate load capacities of E/glass–epoxy laminate plates with pin connection were increased by increasing W and E. However, increasing the E/D and W/D ratios beyond a critical value has an insignificant effect on the ultimate load capacity of the connection.     

Surface effects in the deformation of an anisotropic elastic material with nano-sized elliptical hole

We examine the effect of surface energy on an anisotropic elastic material weakened by an elliptical hole. A closed-form, full-field solution is derived using the standard Stroh formalism. In particular, explicit expressions for the hoop stress, normal, in-plane tangential and out-of-plane displacement components along the edge of the hole are obtained. These expressions clearly demonstrate the effect of elastic anisotropy of the bulk material on the corresponding field variables. When the material becomes isotropic, the hoop stress agrees with the well-known result in the literature while both the in-plane tangential and out-of-plane displacements vanish and the normal displacement is constant along the entire boundary of the elliptical hole.     

拉伸载荷作用下单边缺陷-边裂纹应力强度因子研究

利用杂交位移不连续法研究拉伸载荷作用下矩形板中单边缺陷-边裂纹(半圆孔裂纹和半方孔裂纹)问题,给出了这三种平面弹性裂纹问题的应力强度因子的详细数值解。通过半圆孔裂纹问题和半方孔裂纹问题与单边裂纹问题的应力强度因子的比较,发现半圆孔和半方孔对单边裂纹有屏蔽影响。此外,本文的研究结果表明,杂交位移不连续法用于分析平面弹性有限体中复杂裂纹问题的应力强度因子简单且又准确。