Thermoelastic-numerical hybrid analysis of holes and cracks in composites

An effective thermoelastic-numerical hybrid method is demonstrated for obtaining stress information on, and adjacent to, geometric discontinuities in orthotropic composites. This includes determining stress intensity factors. The technique involves evaluating the stress functions from measured thermoelastic data around the external boundary of a subregion containing the geometric discontinuity of interest. Knowing the stress functions, stresses throughout the subregion surrounding the geometric discontinuity, and stress intensity factors, are available.