Fracture Behaviour Study on the Cross-Ply Composite Laminate with a Circular Hole Subjected to Thermo-Mechanical Loading with Temperature Rise

摘要

The development and the usage of many innovative composite structures is on the rise due their inherent characteristics which offer several advantages in comparison with those of the conventional monolithic materials. The main limitations in the applications of these materials occurs due to the lack of knowledge about their fracture behaviors. So, there is need for establishing extensive data. So, conducting research in this path is still very much significant. In this paper, a composite laminate with a cross ply stacking sequence has been considered with a circular crack located at the center. The composite was modelled and then subjected to simple temperature loading and then thermo-mechanical (combined temperature + pressure) loading conditions. The temperature in both of the cases was considered to be raising and the in the case of the thermo-mechanical loading, the mechanical load was assumed to be constant. Strain Energy Release Rate (SERR) was calculated using the technique of Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) were used for studying the fracture propagation in the composite laminate that was considered. The effect of different parameters such as the temperature rise and combined loading with temperature rise on the SERR value in the 3 different modes of fracture with a circular crack located at the center of the composite laminate was studied and the influence was discussed in this paper.