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Analysis of Laminated Composite Using Matlab

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Proceedings of 1st International Conference on Mechanical Engineering: Emerging Trends for Sustainability
Edited by: C.M. Krishna, A.R. Siddiqui and M.K. Pradhan
Copyright 2014 MANIT, Bhopal

Analysis of Laminated Composite Using Matlab

Rishi Kumar1*, J. K. Nath2, M. K. Pradhan1, Rajesh Kumar1
1

Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal

2.
ITER, Bhubaneswar
riskum1@gmail.com, 9039791256

Abstract
In this analysis, the normal stress () and Shear stress () in the laminated composite beam are analyzed by
applying the Euler Bernoullis classical laminate theory (CLT) along the thickness of different configuration.
MATLAB code has been developed o find the normal and transverse shear stresses across each laminate
thickness. The results have been validated with the theoretical results obtained from the literature and are
presented in tabular and graphical forms. It was investigated in both numerically and graphically and observed
that the most stress within the laminated Beam happens in the ply having the maximum product of the modulus
(Ex) and distance from the neutral axis. There is a symmetrical distribution of shear stress () about the neutral
axis. The maximum shear stress (max) occurs on the neutral surface & the shear stress at the outermost surface is
found to be zero.
Keywords: Laminated composite beams, Sandwich structure, Matlab codes, Euler Bernoullis Theory
1. Introduction

Composites are the materials which consist of two or more than two distinct engineering materials that
associate in a structured unit on a macroscopic level. Mainly they are categorized into two types
namely matrix and reinforcement, they are capable of substituting successfully the conventional
materials in terms of strength, however they are much lighter than that of those materials. Advanced
fiber reinforced composites have many structural applications in aviation industries, viz. Floor beams,
helmet, spectacles, plywood, flight control surfaces, landing gear doors, etc., in civil infrastructure viz.
Earthquake proof highway supports, power generating windmills, long span bridges, etc. The use of
these materials is not limited to this rather expanding continuously in various fields of Engineering,
particularly where weight consideration is a key concern. It's well known that the separation of high
strength skins by a lightweight core increases the bending rigidity of a beam with a minor increase in
weight. The skin carries most of the longitudinal stresses in the beam whereas core carries most of the
shear stresses. Thus, in recent years, there has been an increased trend of using new material with the
sandwich structure thin metal skin, that are being replaced by laminated composite materials due to
their better strength to weight ratio. Foam and non-metallic honeycombs replace some of the
traditional metallic honeycomb cores due to flexibility in the manufacturing process, and weight and
price considerations. Metallic honeycombs are very flexible in the longitudinal direction but are very
stiff in the transverse direction, incompressible, while the new cores are compressible or softer in the
transverse direction. The simplified analysis of bending of sandwich beams and plates, which refers to
metallic cores and mostly identical skins, is based on the shear deformable beam theory. The theory
uses a uniform deflection and a linear longitudinal displacement field in the core through its thickness.
This approach, which approximates the overall behavior of the beam, is unable to predict the behavior
under localized loads and singular load conditions, such as, at support vicinity that exerts concentrated
loads. Failures are mostly affected by localized phenomena and are usually initiated at these locations.
The increased applications of advanced composites materials in structural members have stimulated

ICMEETS 2014

interest in the accurate prediction of the response characteristics of laminated beams, but have new
problems, such as the effects of transverse shear deformation due to the low ratio of transverse shear
modulus to axial modulus, failure due to delamination and secondary effects in the materials
formation. For laminated composite beam, inter-laminar stresses including the transverse shear and
normal stresses have the dominant effects of the delamination phenomena. The classical laminated
beam theory, based on the Euler-Bernoulli hypothesis, is inaccurate for a moderately delaminated
beam with relatively soft transverse shear modulus & for highly anisotropic composites. The
inaccuracy is due to neglect of the transverse shear and normal strains in the laminate. In order to take
into account the effects of the low ratio of transverse shear modulus of the in-plane modulus, the firstorder shear deformation theory of Timoshenko has been developed. However, since in the theory the
transverse shear strain is assumed to be constant in the depth direction, a shear correction factor has to
be incorporated to adjust the transverse shear stiffness for studying the static or dynamic problems of
beams. The accuracy of solutions of the first order shear deformation theory will be strongly dependent
on predicting better estimates for the shear correction factor. It has been shown that the classical and
first order shear deformation theories are inadequate to predict the accurate solutions of laminated
composite beams.
2. Literature Review
According to the Love A. E. H (1888), Kirchhoff assumption classical theories have been initially
developed for thin elastic shells. In this theory the effect of transverse shear deformation has been
overlooked. When these theories are applied to laminated composite and sandwich shells where shear
deformation is very dominant then it can cause errors in manipulating deflection stresses and
frequencies. Transverse shear deformation was incorporated in an approach where the shear strain
remains invariable all through the thickness of the shell during its successive development and known
as first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). According to this theory shear correction factors are
essential for the analysis which should be calculated on the basis of the orientation of different layers
in different direction. Love's first approximation theory [Ambartsumyan SA (1970)] is incompatible
with respect to rigid body motions. According to the sander's theory all strains disappear for small rigid
body motions of the shell hence this theory is nearer to actual behavior of shells than Love's theory.
According to Noor et al [Noor and Burton (1990), Noor and Burton (1996)], the CLTand FSDT
models as well as any higher order smeared laminate model which are based on overall approximation
of the in plane displacement across the thickness becomes unsuccessful to give accurate results when
sandwich composites are (i) Thick (ii) The ratio of transverse shear modulus to in plane modulus is
less (iii) Anisotropy is very high and (iv) The ratios of longitudinal to transverse young's moduli are
high. The assumptions of these models which should make them simple rather limit their validity
particularly with modern sandwich panels and in some cases even results in to incorrect results. It is
found that such description would require the use of layer wise or zig zag models; later this irregularity
was resolved by Sanders (1959), Gulati and Essenberg (1967), Ambart sunyn (1970), Zukas and
Vinson (1971). The effect of transverse isotropy as well as thermal expansion all through the thickness
of cylindrical shells was considered by Dong and Tso (1972) and Whitney and Sun (1973). The
parabolic distributions of the transverse shear stresses in a composite layer for the analysis of
composites were considered by Ambartsumyn (1970). The free vibration analysis of composite beams
with delamination with the use of finite element method was presented by Juet F (1994). In the
presented model bending extension coupling and transverse shear deformation has been included. Two
computational models have been used by [Juet F, Lee HP, Lee KH (1994)]. In the first model which is
"free mode" all the nodal degrees of freedom remains independent in the delaminated region except

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those which are at the connecting nodes at the end of delaminations. In the second model the transverse
nodal deflections of the elements of the upper sub beam are assumed to be equal to the corresponding
transverse nodal deflections of the elements of the lower sub beam. Non-linear EulerBernoulli and
Timoshenko beam theories that relate through-thickness power-law variation of a two-constituent
material and moderate rotation of transverse normals through the VonKarman nonlinear strain was
developed by J. N Reddy (2011). VonKarman nonlinear strains in the EulerBernoulli beam model
was shown by Xia et al. (2010), but they overlooked the coupling between axial displacement and
transverse deflection. The papers by Asghari et al. (2010, 2011) independently deal with the
Timoshenko beam theory of isotropic beams and functionally graded beams, which includes geometric
nonlinearity. In that paper the effect of the axial displacement in the derived nonlinear equations was
overlooked. Recent papers by Ke and Wang (2011) and Ke et al. (2011) which is the advanced version
of the works of Asghari et al. (2010, 2011) to study dynamic stability and nonlinear vibration,
respectively. In this paper axial displacement were included in their formulation which is very helpful
in further studies.
3. Research Methodology
The values taken for composite beam are
b = 150*10-3 m
h = 10* 10-3 m
Iyy = bh3/12 = 150*10-3*(10*10-3)3 / 12 m4
Iyy = 12.5*10-9 m4
Given M= 1000 N-m

Ef= (8/N3)     
3.1 Analytical Formulation

00

0.25

900

0.25

90
0

0.25
0.25

00
900
00
00
900
00

0.2h
0.2h
0.1h
0.2h
0.2h

000
90

0.1h
0.1h

00

0.6h

9000
0

0.1h
0.1h

3.2 Assumptions in Classical Lamination Theory

1. The laminate is assumed to consist of laminas that are perfectly bonded together. The bonds are
assumed to be infinitesimally thin as well as non-shear deformable. Therefore the
displacements are continuous across lamina boundaries so that no lamina can slip relative to
one another.
2. Plane sections that are initially normal to the mid-plane of the laminate remain plane & normal
in the mid-plane after deformation.
3. The strain perpendicular to the middle surface is ignored.
4. Each ply is linearly elastic with no shear coupling i.e. ply orientations are either 00 or 900.

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3.3 Derivation of the Formula for Normal Stress & Transverse Shear Stress
For Normal Stress:The longitudinal normal strain at a distance z from the neutral surface is given by the familiar equation
x

 !

...

= radius of curvature of neutral surface during flexure

=angle
z =distance from the neutral surface defined by xy plane
Since, no shear coupling takes place. So, longitudinal stress in the ply given by
(x)j = (Ex)j.(x) ...........
From equation 3.1 and 3.2

(3.1)

where,

"

(x)j = (Ex)j . ( ) .........

#

(3.2)

(3.3)

Again bending moment,



(
MM= =2$'
V*
%.z.b.dz ( (According
to
& .)& Ex)j .[z -z   ]

(Static equilibrium).

(3.4)

(Applicable to any thickness of layer) ..........

(3.5)

(#

But for even no. of plies having uniform thickness( i.e. z = jh/N and N=even no)
M=

' +
(#* +


..........
*
 Ex)j [3 - 3j +1 ]

(3.6)

But we know the Eulers formula,

M = Ef / (Iyy . )
Or,
Or,

'
(#

*

. )& Ex)j .[z ( -z  ( ] = Ef / (Iyy . )

Ef =

,
+

*

.)Ex)j .[z ( -z  ( ]

..

(3.7)

......

(3.8)

Now equation 3.3 becomes,

(x) j = (Ex)j 
Or,

"
#

( x )j =[ M / (Ef.Iyy) ].(Ex)j.z

For transverse shear stress:We know,

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ICMEETS 2014
-

= V, transverse shear force

From static equilibrium of transverse shear force the element w.r.t the force along the x direction,
* "
* "
(xz)k dx +%%%/0 $" x)j 3 $"12x)j+{d(x)j/dx} dx] dz = 0
.

*

"

V

( xz)k = 3 $" 45

.
* "
(xz)k=(V/EfIyy) 3 $"  545

Ex)j .[z  -z   ]

xz=(V/2. Ef Iyy) .)*


....

(3.9)

4. Results
4.1 Four Layer Laminate
Value of normal stress () at some typical location for four layered composite beam is shown in table
1
Table 1: Value of at some typical location for four layered composite beam
Sl.No z/h Location(102) Normal stress(x)(MPa)
1
-0.5
-1600
2
-0.375
-1200
3
-0.25
-800
4
-0.25
-24.615
5
-0.125
-12.3076
6
0
0
7
0
0
8
0.125
12.3076
9
0.25
24.615
10
0.25
800
11
0.375
1200
12
0.5
1600
Variation of normal stress w.r.t z/h location for 4 layer laminated beam is shown in the Fig.1. Value of
shear stress () at some typical location for four layered composite beam is shown in Table 2

Fig. 1. Variation of normal stress w.r.t z/h location for 4 layer laminated beam

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Table 2: Value of at some typical location for four layered composite beam
Sl.No z/h location(102) Shear stress()(MPa)
1
-0.5
0
2
-0.375
0.7
3
-0.250
1.118
4
-0.125
1.127
5
0
1.130
6
0.125
1.127
7
0.25
1.118
8
0.357
0.7
9
0.5
0
Variation of shear stress w.r.t z/h location for 4 layer laminated beam is shown in the Fig 2

Fig. 2 Variations of shear stress w.r.t z/h location for four layer laminated beam
4.2 Six-layer laminate
Value of normal stress () at some typical location for four layered composite beam is shown in table
3. Fig. 3, Variation of normal stress w.r.t z/h location for six layer laminated beam
Value of shear stress () at some typical location for four layered composite beam is shown in table 4
Table 3: Value of normal stress () at some typical location for six layered laminated beam
Sl. No z/h location (102) Normal stress(x)(MPa)
1
-0.5
-41139.24
2
-0.4
-32911.39
3
-0.3
-24683.54
4
-0.3
-759.49
5
-0.2
-506.329
6
-0.1
-253.16
7
-0.1
-8227.84
8
-0.05
-4113.92

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ICMEETS 2014

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

0
0
0.05
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.3
0.4
0.5

0
0
4113.92
8227.84
253.16
506.329
759.49
24683.54
32911.39
41139.24

Variation of normal stress w.r.t z/h location for 4 layer laminated beam is shown in the Fig 3

Table 4: Value of shear stress () at some typical location for six layered laminated beams
Sl.No z/h location (10-2) Shear stress()(MPa)
1
-0.5
0
2
-0.4
14.81
3
-0.3
24.35
4
-0.2
24.60
5
-0.1
25.45
6
-0.05
26.69
7
0
27.103
8
0.05
26.69
9
0.1
25.45
10
0.2
24.60
11
0.3
24.35
12
0.4
14.81
13
0.5
0
Variation of shear stress w.r.t z/h location for 6-layer laminated beam is shown in the Fig 4

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Fig 4 Variations of shear stress w.r.t z/h location for 4 layers laminated beam is shown in the
5. Conclusions
In this work, Euler Bernoullis equation was used to analyze the normal stress and shear stress in the
laminated composite beam. The normal stress in the laminated beam was found to be maximum in the
ply where the product of the modulus (Ex) j and distance from the neutral axis is maximized. However,
for the homogenous isotropic beam, the youngs modulus E is a constant, hence the stress at a given
point in the cross section depends only on the distance z, and the maximum stress occurs at the outer
surface where z is the greatest. One of the difficulties encountered in inspection for ply failure in
laminates is that only failure on the outer surface can be observed with the naked eyes. Interior ply
failures can only be detected by methods such as ultrasonic or x-ray inspection. There is a symmetrical
distribution of shear stress about the neutral axis. The maximum shear stress in the laminated beam
occurs on the neutral axis and is negligible at the outermost surface. There is an abrupt change of shear
stresses at the interface which can lead to failure known as delamination. The values are found to be
well matched with the manual calculation
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