A new approach in utilising inherent flaw model for tensile fracture of composite laminates with a circular hole

Abstract

This paper improves the inherent flaw model proposed by Waddoups, Eisenman and Kaminski (known as the WEK model) to predict the strength of composite laminates with a circular hole. A simple relation is used for the inherent flaw length to improve the accuracy while evaluating the notched strength of laminates. A cubic equation is developed for the fracture strength of an infinite width plate having a circular hole. This model is applied to a host of experimental data from the open literature. Most of the experimental results are found to be in very good agreement with the analytically produced ones. The proposed model which is more simple could be more applicable for fracture strength evaluation of notched composite laminates.