Prediction of notched strength of laminated fibre composites under tensile loading conditions

Abstract

A modified point stress criterion for predicting the notched strength of glass fibre and carbon fibre laminated composites containing through the thickness centrally located circular or elliptical hole or a center crack is presented here. The effects of hole size and specimen width on the fracture behaviour of several woven fabric composite plates are presented here. It is shown that in the point stress criterion the characteristic length (d0) depends on the hole size as well as width of the plate. The analytical based results are in good agreement with existing test results. ɫ 2002 Sage Publications.