Intra-laminar fracture in angle-ply laminates

• Published in: Composites. Part A, Applied science and manufacturing Vol. 28; no. 9; pp. 839 - 846
• Main Authors: Crocker, L.E., Ogin, S.L., Smith, P.A., Hill, P.S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 1997; Elsevier
• Subjects: angle-ply laminates; Applied sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Laminates; matrix cracking; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Technology of polymers; angle-ply laminates; matrix cracking; Notched test piece; Laminate; Stress strain relation; Fiber reinforced material; Mechanical properties; Reinforced plastics; Tensile property; Experimental study; Glass fiber; Composite material; Crack propagation
• ISSN: 1359-835X; 1878-5840
• DOI: 10.1016/S1359-835X(97)00036-5

The development of matrix cracking in (0/θ/0) GFRP laminates, where θ = 45°, 54°, 75° and 90°, has been investigated. Crack initiation and propagation in the θ° ply were studied separately by using unnotched and notched samples. Details of average crack initiation/propagation strains and associated ply stresses, calculated from laminate theory, as functions of off-axis ply angle are presented and discussed for all laminates along with investigations of notch depth effects and crack growth patterns. It is suggested that to a first approximation crack propagation is governed by the transverse stress while crack initiation has a more complex and as yet unknown dependence on stress state.