FRACTURE BEHAVIOUR OF A COMPOSITE LAMINA UNDER MECHANICAL, THERMAL AND THERMO-MECHANICAL LOADING CONDITIONS

Abstract

Analysis of Composite materials is a challenging task as these materials are influenced by many parameters such as geometry, stacking sequence, type of loading etc. In this work, the fracture response of a composite rectangular plate has been studied under mechanical, thermal and combined thermo- mechanical loading using the Finite element method. Strain energy release rate (SERR) under different loading conditions for different lay-ups of a composite laminate is addressed with the presence of a crack. The finite element models are validated by using analytical results. The influence of geometrical elements such as width and thickness on the SERR was also discovered. According to the findings of this study, SERR is highest under coupled thermo-mechanical loading and lowest under pure thermal loading.