The interlaminar crack-tip response in a fiber-reinforced composite laminate

Abstract

A solution is presented for the problem of an interlaminar crack in a laminated fiber-reinforced composite material. The theory of anisotropic elasticity under a state of generalized plane deformation is employed as a basic framework of this study. In the analytical model, dissimilar anisotropic half-spaces with different fiber orientations which are bound together by a matrix interlayer are considered. The interlayer approximates the matrix-rich interlaminar region containing the crack. The stiffness matrix approach is utilized and the current crack problem is reduced to solving a system of singular integral equations. The singular response of an interlaminar crack to in-plane normal, in-plane shear, and anti-plane shear loadings is evaluated in terms of mixed-mode stress intensity factors. Under each of the leading conditions, the parametric effects of laminate stacking sequence, relative crack size, crack location, and fiber volume fraction are addressed.