The behavior of delaminations in composite plates - Analytical and experimental results

The behavior of elliptical sublaminates created by delaminations in composite plates was investigated for plates subjected to in-plane compressive, shear, and thermal loads. The axes of the ellipse may be arbitrarily oriented with respect to the applied loads. A model was developed which provides the stresses, strains, and displacements of the sublaminate, and the loads applied to the plate at which the sublaminate buckles and at which it grows in size. A series of experiments was conducted on sandwich plates made of Fiberite T300/976 graphite-epoxy laminates bonded to an aluminum honeycomb core. Teflon film in either a circle or an ellipse was embedded in the laminate, simulating the presence of a delamination. Each plate was loaded in compression, and the load-strain history of the sublaminate, the sublaminate buckling load, and the sublaminate growth load were measured. The predictions of the model agreed reasonably well with the data.