Novel analytic solutions for edge stresses in symmetric laminates

Abstract

The “edge effect” problem in laminates is a redundant topic in the literature since the seventies because of its influence on the reduction of the laminate strength. In previous works analytic solutions for angle-ply and quasi-isotropic symmetric laminates were obtained. In this work, a new model for obtaining solutions in the general case of symmetric laminates is presented. It is based on a new assumed displacement field in which the transverse bending of the laminate is not constrained. An strategy for solving the system of differential equations is proposed, as well as different hypotheses for the boundary conditions. Different solutions for the interlaminar stresses can be derived from the proposed technique.