Study of interlaminar stresses in laminated composites

K N Agrawal* , University of Roorkee, India

S Sriram, University of Roorkee, India

26th Conference on OUR WORLD IN CONCRETE & STRUCTURES: 27 - 28 August 2001,

Singapore

Article Online Id: 100026012

The online version of this article can be found at:

http://cipremier.com/100026012

This article is brought to you with the support of 

Singapore Concrete Institute 

www.scinst.org.sg 

All Rights reserved for CI‐Premier PTE LTD 

You are not Allowed to re‐distribute or re‐sale the article in any format without written approval of 
CI‐Premier PTE LTD 

Visit Our Website for more information 

www.cipremier.com  
 26 th Conference on Our World in Concrete & Structures: 27 - 28 August 2001, Singapore

Study of interlaminar stresses in laminated composites

K N Ag rawal* , University of Roorkee, India

S Sriram, University of Roorkee, India

Abstract

The aim of this work is to obtain elasticity solutions for the free edge stresses in
certain simple cases of composite laminates under axial loads. In this context, the free-
edge phenomenon in rectangular, symmetric cross-ply plates, free at two opposite
edges and simply supported on the other edges and subjected to an axial load is
investigated. The three-dimensional equation of elasticity are solved in conjunction with
the appropriate boundary conditions by using the finite element technique. The
suitability of the finite element method in predicting the free edge stresses in axially
loaded laminates is examined from the viewpoint of satisfaction of all boundary
conditions and convergence of results. The variation of stresses is shown in Fig. 4.
Consider a four layer, ± 45 laminate under a uniform axial strain, &x lamination
theory predicts a uniform, planar state of stress in each layer which contains the axial
stress component (J x' and non-zero in plane shear stress component "txy , which arises
from the shear coupling terms of the layer stiffness matrices. Although the Lamination
Theory predicts the stress components to vary from layer to layer, both ax and "txy are
constant within each layer. These results are exact for laminates of infinite width. They
are however incorrect for a finite-width laminate since the in-plane shear stress is
required to vanish along the free edge.

Keywords: Interlaminar, ANSYS, Finite Element Method

1. Introduction
Composite laminates with traction-free edges are known to develop interlaminar stress concentration
near the edge region. The problem of a finite width, symmetrically laminated composite plate under
uniform one-dimensional stretch has been studied by pipes and pagano. The free-edge effects on the
interlaminar stresses are important in determining the failure and the strength of such laminates. The
analytical work is based on a linear, elastic, generalized plane-strain formation and numerical solutions
are obtained using finite element procedures. Their study reveals that certain interlaminar stresses will
"rise" in magnitude near the free-edge region. Because of the limitation of computer storage and
computing time, their results, which were obtained with a relatively coarse and evenly spaced gridwork,
are not detailed enough to fully evaluate the nature of the stress field near the free-edge.
A number of approximate analytical methods have also been developed to solve the same problem,
but the accuracy of the computed edge stresses, cannot be determined in most of the cases.

133
 F - Free edge
S - Simply supported

Fig. 1 : Laminated composite subjected to uniform axial strain

In the present paper, the Pagano-Pipes [1] problem is investigated with emphasis placed on
assessing in detail the stress field closest to the ply-interfaces and laminate's free edge where stress
singularity is suspected. The analysis is formulated on the basis of constant strain, rectangular finite
elements.
The governing partial differential equations are given as
c66 U,yy + cssu,zz + c26 V,yy + c45 v,zz + (c36 +C4S)W,yz = 0
c26 U,yy + c4S u,zz + Czz V,yy +C44 V,ZZ + (c23 + C24)W,yz = 0 (1)
(c4S +C26)U,yz + (c44 +C23)V,yz + c44 W,yy + c33 w,zz = 0
Noting the symmetry of geometry and boundary conditions, one needs to analyse only one quadrant of
the cross-section shown in Fig. 2.

'xz = 0 cr z = 0, 'yz = 0

2110
U=o
W,y=o
V=o

b = lOho
Fig. 2: Finite Element Mesh

134
2. Numerical Solution
For solving equations (1), Pipes and Pagano [1] used test pOints on either side of the interface but
not on the interface itself thus necessitating errors.
To account for the interface slope discontinuity and also for the high stress gradients near the
interface and the free edge a very fine mesh near the interface and the free edge is generated. The end
mesh is arrived at by selective refinement by making the boundary of element coincident with its actual
boundary at the interface.
The number of nodes at the interface is also increased by using 32 noded constant strain rectangular
elements.
ANSYS 5.6 software is used for the purpose of the study. The modelling and the selective refinement
of the mesh is achieved by using the same.
At the interface point E, Fig. 2, five boundary conditions exist, of which only three can be imposed.
So a combination of two sets of boundary conditions are tried out for +450 and -45 0 ply respectively.
Case I : cry = 0, 'txy = 0 and 'txz = 0 at E for +450 laminate.
Case II : cry = 0, 'txy =0 and 'txz =0 at R for -45 0 laminate.
The results are shown in Fig. 3.
2113.0 , . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , 2113.0 , . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,

I 45°
_.- 45° I I _.- ·45°
45° I
,;\;,1409.0 ';\;' 1409.0
fs
'-'
fs
'-'

-
b
-
b

~
~ ~
hoi...
1 704.5
'l" 704.5
I-'
... y
b= 10 h.

0.0 0.20 0.0

0.40 0.60 0.60 1.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.60 1.00
ylb ylb
Fig. 3 : Stress results for cases I and II

As it can be seen there is a drop in i xz near the interface for -45 0 ply in case I and if the boundary
conditions are applied for +450 ply at E for case II 'txz increases rapidly because of the antisymmetry at
the interface.

3. Results
Employing the 3-D elasticity formulation and the finite element technique complete stress and
displacement results are obtained by using ANSYS 5.6 software. Geometric relation is b = 10 ho and
=
a 32 ho . A high modulus graphite-epoxy laminate with following properties is considered
E11 = 137.9 GPa vlf = v 13 = V23 = V21 = 0.21
E22 = E33 = 2.1 x 10 GPa
G12 = G 13 = G 23 = 5.86 GPa
Where the subSCripts have their usual meanings.
The results are presented in Fig. 4, results of pipes of Pagano [1] are also included for comparison.
These results show excellent agreement with the solution near the edges and also in the far field.
In summary one can expect highly accurate solutions for free edge problems if the discontinuity of
the displacement derivatives is properly accounted for.

135
 z
2818.0 .--r==========i""""iI
- Present
1.0 - - - Pipes and Pagano(l970)

b= lOb"
2113.0 r----_...---.......,==
._---_ - , .. ..

~.""-"""",."""
\
'<ii'
f5 \.
------------- 'I'
'-'

..d ;:; 1409.0

~ 0.5 :><:

-- -- ---_ ~
r!

-------
........ b

704.5

~
--Present
---- Pipes and Pagano(l970) hoi.
.. y
b=lOho
0.0 0.0
704.5 1409.0 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.60 1.00
txzi&z x 10-6 (GPa) ylb

Thickness-wise variation of'txz Inplane Stresses along the In~erface z =ho

(a) (b)

2113.0 1409.0
- Present - Present
- - - Pipes and Pagano(l970)

0.0
- - - Pipes and Pagano(1970)
"a,
.. - .. ,
'I
'<ii'1409.0
'<ii'
f5
'-'
f5 -1409.0

,
'-'

- -
·0
'I'

~
I

~
b o

,,i
:><: :><:
hoi. hoi.
1 704.5
..

b=lOho
y
r!
"ic -2818.0
b
..
b = 10 ho
y

~
-4227.0

-0.8
0.0 0.20 0.0
0.40 0.60 0.60 1.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00
ylb ylb

(c) (d)

Fig. 4 Interlaminar Stresses along the Interface

4. Conclusions
The finite element method is used to solve the three dimensional elasticity equations_ The main
conclusions of the study are :
(a) It is impossible to satisfy all the conditions at E, corresponding to horizontal equilibrium and the
stress-free lattice of the free edge. .

136
(b) Because of the stress discontinuity all the stresses show a sudden change in magnitude near the
free edge.
(c) Finite element method leads to free edge stresses which do not grow indefinitely but lead towards
convergence to finite but large values.

5. References
[1] R. Byron Pipes and N. J. Pagano, "Interlaminar Stresses in Composite Laminates under Uniform
Axial Extension", J. Compo Materials, Vol. 4 (1970), p. 538.
[2] N. J. Pagano and R. Byron Pipes, "Some Observations on the Interiaminar Strength of Composite
Laminates", Int. J. Mech. Sci., Vol. 15(1973), p. 679.
[3] N. J. Pagano, "On the Calculation of Interiaminar Normal Stress in Composite Laminate", J. Compo
Materials, Vol. 8 (1974), p. 65.
[4] R. Byron Pipes and N. J. Pagano, "Interiaminar Stresses in Composite Laminates - An Appropriate
Elasticity Solution", J. Appl. Mechanics, Vol. 41 (1974), p. 668.
[5] S. Tang and A. Levy, "A Boundary Layer Theory - Part II : Extension of Laminated Finite Strip", J.
Compo Materials, Vol. 9 (1975), p. 42.

137