Designing for tolerance to impact damage at fastener holes in graphite/epoxy laminates under compression

This paper illustrates how fracture mechanics tools may be used to estimate the residual strength of impact damaged fastener holes in composite laminates. Finite element analysis is carried out in order to study the effect of the delamination damage. It is shown that as the size of the damage is increased, a stage is reached after which a significant further increase in damage does not result in a significant decrease in residual compressive strength.