A Study of the Influence of Microstructure on the Modified Effective Modulus Approach for Composite Laminates

Abstract

Although the effective modulus (EM) representation of composite materials is widely used in the stress analysis and design of structural laminates, there is little understanding for the meaning of EM stress distributions in regions of high stress gradients. The authors present a modified effective modulas (MEM) approach as a means of understanding how EM stress distributions compare with exact solutions in regions of high stress gradients. In a previous study, the authors showed the modified effective modulus approach provided a useful way of comparing EM and exact solutions for a laminate with one fiber size. In this study, the effect of fiber size on the modified effective modulus approach is examined.