Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Mechanical Behavior of Notched Composite Laminates

Abstract

Existence of notches greatly affects the mechanical behavior and damage in composite laminates. In the present work, the effect of different parameters (hole sizes, number of layers and stacking sequences) on damage growth and failure of Glass/Polyester laminates containing central circular notches was investigated. Tests were performed on [0 o ], [0,90 o ] and [±45 o ] notched specimens to investigate the effect of different parameters. The damage progression in the composite laminates during tests was monitored using optical non-destructive technique. The notched laminate failure strength was compared with the predicted strength from the semi-empirical point stress criterion (PSC). A finite element model was developed using ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL) to predict the notched strength and the damage growth during tensile loading taking into consideration the application of Hashin failure criterion and material stiffness degradation on the failed elements. The predicted notched strength and damage growth showed a good agreement with the experimental results obtained.