On Two-Scale Model of Fracture Mesomechanics of Composites with Cracks under Compression

A two-level fracture model of composites with cracks under compression is proposed. Fiber-reinforced laminated panels with a hole are considered. The panels are compressed along the fibers so that two cracks propagate from the hole boundary at a right angle to the loading direction. The fracture mechanism is analyzed at two levels. The first level is the compression-induced stress concentration at the tip of a finite-thickness crack filled with a fractured material. At this level, the theory of elasticity of linear orthotropic body is used. The second level is compression fracture at the crack tip. The analysis performed at this level involves the three-dimensional linearized theory of stability of solids, considering microcracks in the interface between the fractured and intact materials, and the exact solution describing the compression-induced instability of the cracked interface. The second level is where results obtained by the author are used. Thus, the approach proposed employs the theory of elasticity of linear orthotropic body and the three-dimensional linearized theory of stability of solids to analyze a specific mechanism of fracture__________Published in Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 141–144, May 2005Reported at ICF-11 (Turin, Italy, March 20–25, 2005). The ICF-11 proceedings have been published on CD-ROM. The author ‘s other reports presented at ICF-6 (1984) to ICF-10 (2001) are listed in Appendix.