Effect of Stitching on Debonding in Composite Structural Elements

Stitched multiaxial warp knit materials have been suggested as viable alternatives to laminated prepreg materials for large aircraft structures such as wing skins. Analyses have been developed to quantify the effectiveness of stitching for reducing strain energy release rates in skin-stiffener debond, lap joint and sandwich debond configurations. Strain energy release rates were computed using the virtual crack closure technique. In all configurations, the stitches were shown to significantly reduce the strain energy release rate.