ISSN: 0884-6804
Page Count: 6

An Elastic Foundation Model to Predict the Growth of Delaminations
Vizzini, AJ
Assistant professor of aerospace engineering, Composites Research Laboratory, University of Maryland, MD

Lagace, PA
Associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics, Technology Laboratory for Advanced Composites, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the growth characteristics of through-the-width delaminations in laminates under uniaxial compression. Twenty-five sandwich columns were manufactured and tested in uniaxial compression. Teflon® inserts were used to cause through-the-width delaminations in one of the two facesheets of each specimen. The buckling and subsequent growth of the delaminations were monitored via strain gage data and edge replications. A delamination growth criterion based on a strength of materials approach is proposed. This allows the incorporation of the behavior of the interply matrix region modeled as an elastic foundation. There is a good correlation between the point at which delamination growth was observed and that predicted by the growth model using a simple linear buckling solution.

Keywords:
composites, delaminations, compression

Paper ID: CTR10156J
DOI: 10.1520/CTR10156J
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