First-ply Failure Analysis of Delaminated Rotating Composite Conical Shells: A Finite Element Approach

Abstract

The present analysis evaluates the first-ply failure load of delaminated composite conical shells. Single and multiple delamination is considered across the thickness of the conical shell. The dynamic equilibrium equation considers only moderate rotational speeds for which Coriolis effect is neglected. Convergence studies are performed in respect of mesh sizes, and comparisons of the present solutions and those reported in open literature are provided to verify the accuracy of the present finite element formulation. Computer codes are developed to obtain the numerical results for the failure loads of delaminated composite conical shells. The first-ply failure load considering different failure criteria namely Maximum stress (independent), Tsai-Hill, Tsai-Wu-Hahn and Tsai-Hill-Hoffman are evaluated. The variation of the failure loads with the position of delamination across the thickness as well as along longitudinal direction are illustrated and presented.