Progressive failure analysis of laminated composite plates by finite element method

ABSTRACT: The present paper deals with the first ply failure analysis of laminated composite plates under linearly varying temperature through the thickness of the laminate. The plate element has been modeled as an eight noded isoparametric quadratic plate bending element based on Reissner-Mindlin’s assumption for the transverse shear deformation. The deflection and stress resultants obtained in the present study are compared with those available in published literature. The stress level causing the failure of the weakest layer has been detected, based on various stress interactive failure criteria viz. Tsai-Wu and Hoffman’s criteria. The temperature of the outermost layer has been computed at the stress level of that weakest ply failure. A parametric study has been carried out on the basis of different lamination schemes and boundary conditions. KEY WORDS: thermal stress, first ply failure, finite element method, laminated composite plate