Analysis Of Composite Laminates

Composite materials are increasingly used in aerospace, underwater, and automotive structures. They provide unique advantages over their metallic counterparts, but also create complex challenges to analysts and designers. Practical Analysis of Composite Laminates presents a summary of the equations governing composite laminates and provides practical methods for analyzing most common types of composite structural elements. Experimental results for several types of structures are included, and theoretical and experimental correlations are discussed. The last chapter is devoted to practical analysis using Designing Advanced Composites (DAC), a PC-based software on the subject. This comprehensive text can be used for a graduate course in mechanical engineering, and as a valuable reference for professionals in the field.

Composite materials are increasingly used in aerospace, underwater, and automotive structures. To take advantage of the full potential of composite materials, structural analysts and designers must have accurate mathematical models and design methods at their disposal. The objective of this monograph is to present the laminated plate theories and their finite element models to study the deformation, strength and failure of composite structures. Emphasis is placed on engineering aspects, such as the analytical descriptions, effective analysis tools, modeling of physical features, and evaluation of approaches used to formulate and predict the response of composite structures. The first chapter presents an overview of the text. Chapter 2 is devoted to the introduction of the definitions and terminology used in composite materials and structures. Anisotropic constitutive relations and Iaminate plate theories are also reviewed. Finite element models of laminated composite plates are presented in Chapter 3. Numerical evaluation of element coefficient matrices, post-computation of strains and stresses, and sample examples of laminated plates in bending and vibration are discussed. Chapter 4 introduces damage and failure criteria in composite laminates. Finally, Chapter 5 is dedicated to case studies involving various aspects and types of composite structures. Joints, cutouts, woven composites, environmental effects, postbuckling response and failure of composite laminates are discussed by considering specific examples.

Composite Laminated: Theories and Their Applications presents the latest methods for analyzing composite laminates and their applications. The title introduces the most important analytical methods in use today, focusing on fracture, damage, multi-physics and sensitivity analysis. Alongside these methods, it presents original research carried out over two decades on laminated composite structures and gives detailed coverage of laminate theories, analytic solutions and finite element models. Specific chapters cover An introduction to composites, Elasticity, Shear, State space theory, Layerwise theories, The extended layerwise method, Fracture and damage mechanics, Multi-physical fracture problems, Analytical methods of stiffened sandwich structures, Progressive failure analysis, and more. This volume offers a comprehensive guide to the state-of-the-art in the analysis and applications of composite laminates, which play a critical role in all types of engineering, from aerospace to subsea structures, including in medical prosthetics, circuit boards and sports equipment. Presents a guide to the analysis and application of advanced composite materials Gives detailed exposition of plate/shell theories and their implementation in finite element code architecture Considers the robustness, effectiveness and applications aspects of laminated plate/shell methods Gives hands-on experience of code architecture, providing composite analysis software which can be plugged in to commercial applications Presents experimental research alongside methods, laminate theories, analytic solutions, and finite element models

Damage Modeling of Composite Structures: Strength, Fracture, and Finite Element Analysis provides readers with a fundamental overview of the mechanics of composite materials, along with an outline of an array of modeling and numerical techniques used to analyze damage, failure mechanisms and safety tolerance. Strength prediction and finite element analysis of laminated composite structures are both covered, as are modeling techniques for delaminated composites under compression and shear. Viscoelastic cohesive/friction coupled model and finite element analysis for delamination analysis of composites under shear and for laminates under low-velocity impact are all covered at length. A concluding chapter discusses multiscale damage models and finite element analysis of composite structures. Integrates intralaminar damage and interlaminar delamination under different load patterns, covering intralaminar damage constitutive models, failure criteria, damage evolution laws, and virtual crack closure techniques Discusses numerical techniques for progressive failure analysis and modeling, as well as numerical convergence and mesh sensitivity, thus allowing for more accurate modeling Features models and methods that can be seamlessly extended to analyze failure mechanisms and safety tolerance of composites under more complex loads, and in more extreme environments Demonstrates applications of damage models and numerical methods

This book has one single purpose: to present the development of the partial hybrid finite element method for the stress analysis of laminated composite structures. The reason for this presentation is because the authors believe that partial hybrid finite element method is more efficient that the displacement based finite element method for the stress analysis oflaminated composites. In fact, the examples in chapter 5 of this book show that the partial hybrid finite element method is about 5 times more efficient than the displacement based finite element method. Since there is a great need for accurate and efficient calculation of interlaminar stresses for the design using composites, the partial hybrid finite method does provide one possible solution. Hybrid finite method has been in existence since 1964 and a significant amount of work has been done on the topic. However, the authors are not aware of any systematic piece of literature that gives a detailed presentation of the method. Chapters of the displacement finite element method and the evolution 1 and 2 present a sununary of the hybrid finite element method. Hopefully, these two chapters can provide the readers with an appreciation for the difference between the displacement finite element method and the hybrid finite element. It also should prepare the readers for the introduction of partial hybrid finite element method presented in chapter 3.

The second edition of this popular text provides complete, detailed coverage of the various theories, analytical solutions, and finite element models of laminated composite plates and shells. The book reflects advances in materials modeling in general and composite materials and structures in particular. It includes a chapter dedicated to the theory and analysis of laminated shells, discussions on smart structures and functionally graded materials, exercises and examples, and chapters that were reorganized from the first edition to improve the clarity of the presentation.

This book is concerned with the topical problems of mechanics of advanced composite materials whose mechanical properties are controlled by high-strength and high-stiffness continuous fibers embedded in polymeric, metal, or ceramic matrix. Although the idea of combining two or more components to produce materials with controlled properties has been known and used from time immemorial, modern composites were only developed several decades ago and have now found intensive application in different fields of engineering, particularly in aerospace structures for which high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios are required. There already exist numerous publications that cover anisotropic elasticity, mechanics of composite materials, design, analysis, fabrication, and application of composite structures but the difference between this book and the existing ones is that this is of a more specific nature. It covers specific features of material behaviour such as nonlinear elasticity, plasticity, creep, and structural nonlinearity and discusses in detail the problems of material micro- and macro-mechanics that are only slightly touched in existing books, e.g. stress diffusion in a unidirectional material with broken fibers, physical and statistical aspects of fiber strength, coupling effects in anisotropic and laminated materials, etc. The authors are designers of composite structures who were involved in practically all the main Soviet and then Russian projects in composite technology, and the permission of the Russian Composite Center - Central Institute of Special Machinery (CRISM) to use in this book the pictures of structures developed and fabricated in CRISM as part of the joint research and design project is much appreciated. Mechanics and Analysis of Composite Materials consists of eight chapters progressively covering all structural levels of composite materials from their components through elementary plies and layers to laminates.