SEDL / STP / STP1012-EB / STP10422S

Delamination Failure Modes in Filament-Wound Composite Tubes

Foral, RF
Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

Gilbreath, DR
Research and development engineer, Brunswick Corporation, Defense Division, Lincoln, NE

Pages: 13    Published: Jan 1989

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Abstract

Filament-wound composite tubes of helical hoop construction were tested in axial tension at room temperature and at elevated temperatures. Stress analysis of such tubes shows the presence of tensile interlaminar stresses, tending to produce delamination. The test results show that delamination failures do occur, and that material performance depends on laminate stacking sequence as well as test temperature. In specimens with no inside hoop layers, the tensioned inside helical fibers pulled away from the laminate in a localized delamination failure mode, called transverse fiber pullout. The predicted interlaminar stresses at which this occurred are considerably lower than the expected through-the-thickness strength. The interlaminar stresses producing these failures must be accounted for in design of curved laminates, because they can produce premature failure at a load level substantially below that predicted by in-plane analysis.