Structural Behavior of Composite Materials.

Abstract : This study is concerned with the analysis of the structural behavior of composite materials. It is shown that composite materials can be designed to produce a wide range of mechanical properties. Thus, a structural designer now has at his disposal an added dimension in optimum design - the materials optimization. Two types of composite materials are investigated: the unidirectional fiber reinforced composite and the laminated anisotropic composite. Analytical relations are derived between the composite material coefficients and the geometric and material parameters of the constituents. Test specimens made of filament-wound materials are used. The experimental results show that the relations derived in this study are more accurate than existing theories, which include the netting analysis. Reliable data on filament-wound materials, which are now available for the first time, can be used for future investigations of the behavior of filament-wound structures.