Evolution of ply cracks in multidirectional composite laminates

This paper treats evolution of ply cracks in multidirectional composite laminates subjected to a quasi-static tensile load in the longitudinal direction. Starting with pre-existing ply cracks in off-axis plies, the formation of additional cracks is analyzed by an energy-based approach. A critical laminate energy parameter associated with formation of these cracks is defined and is evaluated using experimental data for a reference cross-ply laminate. The modeling approach requires crack surface displacements, which are calculated by a three-dimensional finite element (3-D FE) analysis performed on a suitable representative volume of the given cracked laminate. The model predictions agree well with experimental data for [0/ +/- 0(4)/0(1/2)](s) and [0/90/ -/+ 45](s) laminates. A parametric study is conducted to evaluate effects of ply thickness and ply stacking sequence on damage evolution in [0(m)/90(n)/ -/+ 0(p)](s) laminates. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.