Experimental and theoretical investigation of the critical load of U-notched laminated composite specimens under in-plane shear loading

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Faculty of New Science and Technologies, University of Tehran

Abstract

Numerous failure models for prediction of the load-carrying capacity of cracked and notched laminated composites have been of interest to researchers in the field of fracture mechanics. The cause of the importance of this subject was the extensive use of notched composite laminates in aerospace industries in the last decades. In this investigation, it was tried to predict the load-carrying capacity (critical failure load) of U-notched laminated composite specimens with various layup configurations under pure mode II loading (in-plane shear loading) conditions, by utilizing a simple and novel concept proposed recently by the authors. The new composed criteria have been proposed in the field of orthotropic fracture mechanics for the first time. For this aim, by using a newly proposed concept, namely the virtual isotropic material concept, and combining it with two well-known brittle fracture criteria in the field of linear elastic fracture mechanics, namely the maximum tangential stress and the mean stress criteria, the experimental results of the failure of the U-notched laminated semi-circular bend composite specimens under pure mode II loading condition, were theoretically predicted by using new last-ply-failure load curves. It was revealed that the experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.

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References

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Amirkabir Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 53, Issue 6
September 2021
Pages 3673-3688

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