Ch.

6:Analysis ofLaminated Composites

Thetransverseproperties
The
transverse properties ofunidirectional
of unidirectional composites
composites
areunsatisfactory formost practical applications.

Stacking ofplieswith different

anglesfortailoring
(stiffness,thermalstability)

Thegoalofthis chapter is toanalysethestacking sequence

inorder toachieve adequate anisotropic properties.

Oneply

Stressandstrain variationinalaminate
Kirchhoffplatetheory:
A line ABCD originally straightandnormal
AlineABCDoriginally
straight and normal
tothemidplaneremains straightinthe
deformed state:ABCD
(noshear deformation)
Displacements ofthemidplane:
Slope ofthelaminate inthe(x,z)plane:
Displacements at apointat
a point at a
a
distancezfrom themidplane:

Platecurvatures

Midplanestrains
(
(membrane)
)
Thestrain varieslinearly across thethickness
However,thestiffness properties arediscontinuous from onelayertothenext

Every layeris characterized byits stiffness matrix

Resultant forcesandmoments
forces and moments

Sum ofthecontributions
of the various layers
ofthevarious

Forevery layer:

Donotdepend on z

Extensional stiffness matrix

Coupling stiffness matrix

(B=0 forsymmetric stacking)
Bending stiffness matrix

Example:Nonsymmetric twoply laminate

(5mmat 0 and3mmat 45)Calculate thestiffness matrix

Stiffness matrix ofoneply

in principal material axes:
inprincipalmaterial

Step 1:Compute thestiffness matrix fortheply at 45

[using formula(5.61)with =45]

10

Stiffness matrix inarbitrary axes

11

Step 2:Globalstiffness matrix

Oppositesigns !

12

Constitutiveequation forthetwoply laminate

13

Symmetric
y
laminate
ContributiontoBofsymmetric layers:

Nocoupling between inplane forces

andoutofplanedeformations
(very importantforthermalstability!)
Orthotropic intheplane

thickness

Odd function of

Forevery ply with +,there should be another

ply with thesame thickness oriented at
14

Example:Fourply laminate
Each ply hasathickness of3mm

orthotropic

Because ofsymmetry:
Coupling
Bendingtorsion
g

15

Howtominimize thecoupling between bending andtorsion?

Q16 and Q26 areodd functions of

Option1:Alllayers oriented at 0 or90

Option2:Forevery layerat + above themidplane,there should be alayer
with thesame thickness andoriented at ,at thesame distance
below themidplane.
B t thi is
Butthis
i incompatiblewith
i
tibl ith symmetry
t !
16

Forasymmetric laminate,D16 andD26 cannot be zero.However,bystacking

thelayers alternatively at + and,D16 andD26 can be minimized,especially
if the number oflayers
ifthenumber
of layers is large.
large
45

45

unchanged

17

Quasiisotropic laminate
Constitutiveequations ofanisotropic material:

Aquasiisotropic laminate hastheextensional

stiffness properties ofanisotropic material:
Construction:
Thetotalnumber n oflayers mustbe 3ormore
Identical individual layers (Q andt)
The layers mustbe
Thelayers
must be oriented at equal angles:
/n between two layers
Examples:

Also:

Butnot:
18

Stressesandstrains inthelayers
Step 1:Invert thestiffness matrix tocompute themid planestrains andthecurvatures:

Step 2:forevery layer,onecompute thestressesinglobalcoordinates (x,y):

[
[]
]
k

(linear overthe
thickness ofthelayer)

Step 3:before applying thefailure criteria,onemusttransform thestressesinthe(L,T)frame

19

Example:threeply laminate [45/0]S

In plane forces:
Inplane
forces

A11

Thestrains areidentical
foralllayers

20

Before applying afailure test,oneneeds totransform into the(L,T)frame

T(45)=
T(45)

21

Stresses and strains in(x,y)frame

Stressesandstrains
in (x,y) frame

Stressesandstrains in(L,T)frame

22

23