Chapter 3.2 - Failure criteria for use in the design environment

• Published in: Failure Criteria in Fibre-Reinforced-Polymer Composites pp. 121 - 139
• Main Author: Eckold, G.C.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2004
• ISBN: 008044475X; 9780080444758
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-008044475-8/50006-8

This chapter explains the use of composite failure criteria in a design situation. The example chosen is from the process industry, which employs composite materials in demanding applications and has requirements for simple, pragmatic, and auditable procedures. In the context of the failure prediction exercise, the methods currently adopted by the process sector have been applied, albeit with some modification, because the materials of construction are different. Attempts have also been made to predict ultimate strengths, although this is not the prime purpose of a design code, and it is envisaged that there will be some discrepancies owing to the fact that such issues as material nonlinearity and differences in tensile and compressive properties are ignored. The more interesting relationship to note will be that between the derived design allowable and the initiation of failure because the basis of chemical process plant design is that normal service loads should be kept within these limits. The chapter describes how one particular industrial sector, the process-plant industry, has addressed the issue rather than advocate any one particular approach to composite failure analysis. This industry uses composites in an environment, which is both demanding in terms of operating conditions and competitive, given that there are alternative material systems that can be used for most duties.