MODEL FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF INTRALAMINAR STRESSES IN COMPOSITE MATERIALS SUBJECTED TO AXIAL LOAD

Abstract

The laminated composite materials, commonly used in the automotive and aerospace industries, presents interlaminar and intralaminar stresses in his constituent layers when are subjected to external loads. These stresses are maximum in the straight edges causing layers to separate in the composite laminates. In this work, the development of an analytical model to which it were experimentally evaluated composite laminates axially loaded is presented. By obtaining deformations experimentally in the border, are can be determined the values of the intralaminar stresses. The model consists of: a) a laminate constitutive model, and b) Constitutive models for each layer. For evaluation, the deformations experimentally in the border and intralaminar stresses were obtained in specimens with metal layers and orthotropic layers, both models subject to axial loads. These specimens were instrumented with strain gauges in some specific points located at the borders of the composite materials under uniaxial loading. The results obtained showed that the model is reliable and representative, and that can determine the intralaminar and global stresses in composite laminates. Keywords: Laminated composite materials, intralaminar strains, experimental methods, axial load.