Linear and non-linear failure analysis of composite laminates with transverse shear

A finite element computational procedure has been developed to find linear and nonlinear (von Karman) first-ply failure loads of composite laminates subjected to in-plane and transverse loads. The FEM is based on first-order shear deformation theory and several phenomenological failure criteria. It is found that the failure loads predicted by various failure criteria differ from one another by a maximum of 35 percent in the case of linear loads and 50 percent in the case of nonlinear loads; the failure locations differ from each other in a random way. It is demonstrated that the difference between the linear and nonlinear failure loads is large in the case of transversely loaded simply supported laminates and thin plates. The difference is found to be quite small in the case of in-plane (tensile) loading and thick laminates.