A modelling strategy and strain concentration analysis for a countersunk hole in an orthotropic plate

Abstract

Strain and stress analyses are performed for countersunk holes in orthotropic laminates under uniaxial tension. ANSYS software is implemented to establish finite element (FE) modelling strategies and to run the analysis. It is found that the homogenisation of the material properties can be adopted in the analyses of orthotropic plates, and is reasonably accepted in the strain-based analysis of quasi-isotropic plates. However, ply-by-ply modelling is needed for stress-based analysis of quasi-isotropic laminates. It is also found that in the homogenised models the strain concentration factor is always less than the stress concentration factor with differences less than 4% for 98% of the results.