Strength prediction of composite laminates with multiple elliptical holes

Based on the classical laminated plate theory, a finite composite plate with multiple elliptical holes is treated as an anisotropic multiple connected plate. Using the complex potential method in the plane theory of elasticity of an anisotropic body, a series solution to the title problem is obtained by means of the Faber series expansion, the conformal mapping and the least squares boundary collocation techniques. Laminate strength is predicted by using the concept of characteristic curve and the Yamada-Sun failure criterion. The effects of the layups, the hole sizes, the ellipticity of the holes, the loading conditions, the relative distance between holes, the total number of holes and their locations on the strength of laminates are studied in detail. Some useful conclusions are drawn. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.