A model for transverse cracking and delamination in cross-ply laminates

This paper develops an analytical model to evaluate the stress distibutions in cross-ply laminates subjected to tensile loading and containing transverse cracks and delamination initiated from the transverse crack tips. In the delaminated part the analytical approach is reduced to the usual one-dimensional analysis. In the part without delamination the analytical model is based on a displacement approach which considers that the longitudinal displacement depends on the longitudinal and transverse coordinates in each layer. The stress distributions derived from the analytical model are compared with the results obtained from a finite-element analysis. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.