Analytical-experimental correlation of polyaxial states of stress in Thornel-epoxy laminates

The observed strength and stress-strain response of O₂/±45] _s Thornel-epoxy laminates under varying biaxial-stress ratios are compared with those predicted numerically. Both flat and ring-type off-axis composite specimens are employed by which to generate experimentally the biaxial data. While the numerical predictions tend to overestimate the observed laminate strengths, the several predicted stress-strain curves agree well with each other and with experiment. The off-axis ring specimens produced significantly higher strengths than did the corresponding flat specimens.