Improved inherent flaw model for tensile fracture of cracked composite laminates

Abstract

Modifications are made in the inherent flaw model to predict the tensile fracture strength of cracked composite laminates. A simple relation is used for the inherent flaw length to improve the accuracy while evaluating the fracture strength of laminates. A quartic (fourth-order polynomial) equation is developed for the fracture strength of an infinite width plate containing a crack. This model is successfully applied to centre crack tensile specimens of graphite/epoxy and nylon/glass polyamide.