Elimination/minimization of edge-induced stress singularities in fiber composite laminates

Abstract The stress singularities along the edges of a linear elastic laminate consisting of 0° and off-axis plies in uniaxial stress are shown to either vanish or be minimized by a special fiber orientation for the off-axis plies. The particular orientation is obtained analytically using both a recently proposed specific three-dimensional constitutive equation and the more general constitutive theory, but for fiber-dominated lamina. The prescribed angle is defined by the simple relationship: 0 * = tan - 1 ( 1 v L ) , where v1 is the longitudinal Poisson's ratio of the lamina. Tensile test data arc consistent with the theoretical result.