Onset of free-edge delamination in composite laminates under tensile loading

Edge delamination onset on composite laminates has been investigated for a carbon/epoxy T800/914 composite material. On the edge of laminates, out-of-plane stresses arise, even up to material's failure. Layer thickness is also known as well to influence delamination onset stress. Making use of a conventional model (that is to say assuming plies homogeneity, elastic linear behaviour, plane interlaminar surface and interface's infinite stiffness) and of a local stress tensor correction near the edge, allows, thanks to an asymptotic method, an efficient calculation of the full stress tensor. A stress criterion has then been studied. Criterion parameters assessment, from test results, has been focused on, based on conjugate gradient method and experimental thickness effect. Edge Delamination Tests have been performed on several specimens of various layups. Interlaminar shear, tension, as well as shear and tension combination have been investigated. Acoustic emission was used to detect delamination onset. As expected, these tests have exhibited layer thickness influence on onset stress. Shear parameter assessment shows good agreement between theory and experimental results. A single set of parameters is necessary to predict delamination for different layups. But experimental testing for both tensile and mixed mode has shown that failure may not be interlaminar, as expected, but intralaminar.

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