Mechanisms of transverse cracking induced by adjacent ply matrix cracks in composite laminates

Cracking in composite laminates containing θ-plies adjacent to 90° plies is studied experimentally and numerically using the coupled criterion and finite element calculations. Different damage mechanisms are considered, namely transverse cracking in 90°, cracking in θ-plies, or debonding between adj...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Carrère, Nicolas, Doitrand, Aurélien, Conan, Mathilde, Martin, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Académie des sciences 2025-02-01
Series:Comptes Rendus. Mécanique
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Online Access:https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/mecanique/articles/10.5802/crmeca.286/
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Summary:Cracking in composite laminates containing θ-plies adjacent to 90° plies is studied experimentally and numerically using the coupled criterion and finite element calculations. Different damage mechanisms are considered, namely transverse cracking in 90°, cracking in θ-plies, or debonding between adjacent misoriented plies. The influence of the stacking sequence on the damage mechanism sequence is investigated. Experimental observations of the composite edge under tensile loading evidence θ-ply cracking (i) at an imposed strain level much larger than first transverse cracking in 90° ply for a sufficiently large orientation mismatch between adjacent plies or (ii) at a similar imposed strain level if the mismatch angle between two adjacent plies is small. The latter phenomenon may be mitigated by the presence of a 0° ply between the 90° and the θ-plies.These conclusions are supported by numerical simulation of the experimentally observed damage mechanisms, evidencing a change in the damage mechanism sequence depending on the θ-ply misorientation. The numerical simulations also highlight that debonding between adjacent plies may occur as it becomes more favorable that adjacent ply crack re-initiation for sufficiently large adjacent ply mismatch angle.
ISSN:1873-7234