Failure analysis of boron/glass hybrid laminates under biaxial tension

Abstract

Designing modern composite structures requires sound understanding about the deformation and failure behavior of the combined materials. Hybridization of glass–epoxy layers into boron-epoxy has the potential to reduce the cost of the structure, nevertheless the failure behavior has not been established especially under biaxial loading condition. Therefore, this paper aims to perform simulation and analyze the failure behavior of boron/glass hybrid composite laminates under biaxial tension. The first stage of the work focused on replicating established experimental work on composite laminates made of boron-epoxy under biaxial tension. Prior to that, mesh convergence analysis and numerical validation has been performed. Finally, finite element simulation was performed to investigate the effect of hybridization of glass–epoxy layers into boron-epoxy under biaxial tension. Three lamination schemes, [0/90]s, [0/±45/90]s and [0/±45]s, where glass–epoxy was added either at the skin or core of the hybrid laminates were modelled and loads constituting the failure of each lamination scheme, were determined. The built-in function for failure analysis and Maximum Stress Theory, available in ANSYS software were employed. Based on the results, it could be observed that there is significant difference between boron laminates and its hybrid laminates failure behavior. Moreover, it is also simulated that the hybrid laminate could withstand more load compared to the original boron-epoxy laminates. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the current study is useful and has provided significant knowledge about understanding the behavior of boron/glass hybrid composite laminates under biaxial tension.