Stress analysis of multilayered plates around circular holes

Abstract

In this paper, a technique to study the 3-dimensional stress state around a circular hole in laminated plates is developed. First, the 3-dimensional elasticity problem for a thick plate with a circular hole is formulated in a systematic fashion by using the z-component of the Galerkin vector and that of Muki's harmonic vector function. This problem was originally solved by Alblas[1]. The reasons for reconsidering it are to introduce a technique which may be used in solving the elasticity problem for a multilayered plate and to verify and extend the results given by Alblas. Among the additional results of particular interest, one may mention the significant effect of the Poisson's ratio on the behavior and the magnitude of the stresses. Secondly, the elasticity problem for a laminated thick plate, which consists of two bonded dissimilar layers and which contains a circular hole, is considered. The problem is formulated for arbitrary axisymmetric tractions on the hole surface. Through the expansion of the boundary conditions into Fourier series, the problem is reduced to an infinite system of algebraic equations which is solved by the method of reduction. Of particular interest in the problem are the stresses along the interface as they relate to the question of delamination failure of the composite plate. These stresses are calculated and are observed to become unbounded at the hole boundary. An approximate treatment of the singular behavior of the stress state is presented, and the stress intensity factors are calculated. It is also observed that, the results compare rather well with those obtained from the finite element method.