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Pipes, R. B., and Pagano, N. J., "Interlaminar Stresses in Composite Laminates -

An Approximate Elasticity Solution," Journal of Applied Mechanics, Vol. 41, No.
3, (1974), pp. 668-...

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 R. B. Pipes1 Interlaminar Stresses in Composite
University of Delaware,
Newark, Del.
Laminates-An Approximate
N. J. Pagano
Air Force Materials Laboratory,
Nonmetalllc Materials Division,
Elasticity Solution
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

An approximate elasticity solution is developed for the response of the finite-width,

angle-ply composite laminate under uniform axial strain. The solution yields compo-
nents of the displacement vector, strain tensor, and stress tensor in the form of sinusoi-
dal-hyperbolic series. Results of the approximate solution are compared to numerical so-
lutions of the exact equations for four-layer, symmetric laminate geometries. The nature
of the boundary disturbance in the eight-layer laminate is also examined by the approxi-
mate solution.

Introduction Free Edge

The elastic response of the finite-width laminate consisting of

layers of an anisotropic material has been the subject of several
recent investigations [1-8]. 2 These studies have been motivated
by a requirement to develop an understanding of the mechanisms
of interlaminar load transfer in a fiber-reinforced composite ma-
terial. The majority of investigators have utilized numerical tech-
niques since the general (three-dimensional) solution of the equa-
tions of elasticity for a layered, anisotropic medium, presents a
formidable task. In an earlier paper [1] the authors examined the
finite-width laminate, Fig. 1, subjected to uniform axial strain
and obtained numerical solutions of the displacement-equilibrium
equations by finite-difference techniques. Due to the ineconomy
of the numerical solution methods, only the most simple laminate
geometries could be examined earlier. Therefore, only by devel-
oping more economical numerical solution techniques or approxi-
mate elasticity solutions will it be possible to examine the com-
plex laminate geometries of interest. The latter approach was un-
LAMINATE GEOMETRY
dertaken by the authors, and in the present work we develop an
approximate solution to the equations of elasticity which yields Fig. 1 Boundary-value problem
the components of the displacement vector, strain tensor, and
stress tensor in the form of sinusoidal-hyperbolic series for an im-
solutions of the exact equations for laminate geometries of four
portant class of composite bodies; namely, angle-ply laminates.
layers. Next, the approximate solution is extended to consider-
Results of the approximate solutions are compared to numerical
ation of the laminate geometry of eight layers and differences in
the elastic response of the eight and four-layer laminates are
studied.
1
Formerly, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pa. Theoretical Development
2
Numbers in brackets designate References at end of paper.
The displacement-equilibrium equations for an anisotropic
Presented at the Seventh U. S. National Congress of Applied Mechanics,
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo., June 3-7, 1974. elastic medium possessing a single plane of elastic symmetry 3 and
Discussion on this paper should be addressed to the Editorial Depart- subjected to uniform axial extension [1] are given by
ment, ASME, United Engineering Center, 345 East 47th Street, New York,
N. Y. 10017, and will be accepted until November 20, 1974. Discussion re- 3
ceived after this date will be returned. Manuscript received by ASME In this case, the plane of elastic symmetry coincides with the plane of
Applied Mechanics Division, September, 1973; final revision, March, 1974. lamination.

668 / SEPTEMBER 1974 Copyright © 1974 by ASME Transactions of the ASME

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 cssu,yy + c„u,„ + clsv,„ + cuv,„ Displacements

+ (C 3e + C„)W,„ = 0 (la) V Me0y + PU (5fe)

CttU,„ + CUU,„ + CnV,„ + CuV,ee
w 0 e o * + ip f U,s(y,l-)dl- (5Z)
+ (C 23 + Cu)W,ys = 0 (16)

(C 45 + C%)U,ye + (C 44 + C „ ) V 1 M , + CUW,„ where the constants are defined as follows:

+ C33^,„ = 0 (lc) 2C
+ 26C36C33 £33^26 C22C36
(6a)
^ 5 6 ^ 2 2 ^ 3 3 ~~ ^23 )
Where the elastic constants, Ctj, are functions of the lamina
orthotropic material properties and fiber orientation of. each ^GflijClqCDn
V = C, -12l^13'-,23 — ^22 13 — ^•'W-'tt
33^1
layer. In addition, it may be shown that C;6(0) = -Ctt(-0) (i = (66)
- C
1-3). Numerical solutions of the governing equations have been C22C33 23
obtained recently employing the finite-difference techniques [1, r | C
12C23C36 + C13C23 C 26 ~ C ^ C j !3C25 _ " C13|C2^CR6
5
2]. The class of problems investigated in reference [1] was re- 0 _ OJO i 2
stricted to four-layer, symmetric angle-ply laminates, while the C'22^33 - -c
response of the general six-layer symmetric laminate was investi- (6c)
gated in reference [8]. Results of the former analysis revealed that
only three of the six stress components played significant roles in 13 = C 55 a (6d)
the elastic response of the angle-ply* laminate. On the basis of
C C
these results two of the three remaining stress components will be ,, 13^23 ~ Cl2 23
assumed to vanish in the following development: ~ 2 »«)
^22^33 - C 2 3

S = C « e 0 + C M V , , + CnW,e + CltU,, = 0 (2a) p '"'36^23 - C2SCM

(6/)
-
a, = C 1 3 e 0 + C M V , „ + CggW,, + C3eU,y = 0 (2ft) C22C33 C23
C
A 12C23 ~ C
13C22
We shall only consider materials for which the stiffness coefficient (6ff)
C22C23 - C23
C45 vanishes (like the material studied in [1]).
-
j, ^26^23 C 3 6 C22
(6/!)
C45 =0 (3)
C22C23 ~" ^
The physical justification for this assumption is based primarily 2£ 0 wfe 0 5a 1 / 2
upon the knowledge that for contemporary fiber-reinforced mate- (60
rials C45 is small relative to the other Cy. The assumptions de-
scribed in equations (2) and (3) combined with the governing
equations result in a transformation of equation (la) from a par- The problem to be considered will be the m-layer symmetric lam-
tial differential equation in three variables to one in a single vari- inate. By symmetry we can treat one-half of the laminate. The
able. mixed boundary conditions are given as follows:

<*V.m +U,„ = 0 (4) Txy(b,z) = 0 (7a)

The stress, strain, and displacement components may now be ex- 17(0, z) = 0 (76)
pressed in terms of the single variable, U.
(7c)
Stresses •. {y. ? ) = °
(5 a) .( y ,^-) = o (7d)
Txy = 6€ 0 + PU, (56)
The boundary conditions may now be expressed in terms of the
(5 c) dependent variable, U, by combining equations (5) and (7).
T„ = Cu[pU,M + i> r U,„(y,£)dt] (5d)
J0 U,y(b,z) = 6£0//3 (+6)
(8 a)
Strains
U,y(6, z) = - 5€0//3 (-0)

(5e) U(0, z) = 0 (86)

e , = <pe0 + 4>u
(5/)

(5g)
M y, V) =0 (8c)

U„(y,^>) =0 (8rf)
Yxy, = U, y (5k)

r« = u,., (50 The boundary condition (8a) is a piecewise continuous function of

• y. = PU,, + tf f* U,„(y,£)dt 2 and hence may be represented by a Fourier series. Clearly, the
(5j)
•J i) stacking sequence enters the problem through the Fourier repre-
sentation of the boundary condition (8a). Since the boundary
* Laminates consisting of equal numbers of layers of +8 and —8 fiber ori- conditions given in (8) are separable, the method of separation of
entation. variables' may be utilized in determining solutions of the govern-

Journal of Applied Mechanics SEPTEMBER 1974 / 669

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 z
8.01203.
U, z (b-h 0 ,h 0 l
7.01177.
6.01152.
5.0(127.
/ U.z'o.ho)
4.0(101. 0.75

: 3.0 176.

_^S : 2.0 (50.

1.0 125.
0.0
0.00 0.25 0.50
y/b
0.75 1.00
•v J^R^HIsd ""•
1 457-451 s
b-8h0
U,j- U,z(1000 Terms)
o Finite - Diff. Solution
— • Approximate Sol.

0.25
Fig. 2 Surface axial displacement distribution at z/h0 = 2.0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Number of Terms

Fig. 4 Divergence of a U,z at the free-edge

Fig. 2 where displacement results at the surface z/ho = 2 are

id compared to the finite-difference solution. Similar results were

obtained for U,y and U,z throughout. Hence, it must be conclud-
ed that the analytic solution yields an accurate representation of
<
/1^1.626 o
1.50(10.341^" the stress field for the boundary-value problem considered. The
interlaminar shear stress distribution at the interface z/h0 = 1.0
I45/-45I S /
is shown in Fig. 3 for the four-layer, finite-width laminate with b
- 1.00 (6.i
b = 8h 0 / = 8ho- The finite-difference and approximate solutions differ only
- Approximate Sol. p
near the free-edge, where the numerical solution achieves a finite
o Finite - Diff. Solution / value, while the approximate solution appears to grow without
bound. The existence of a singularity in the stress field at this
point was postulated in reference [1]. Therefore, the behavior of
- C — - O — O B *
0.25 0.50 the Fourier representation of U,z was examined both at the free-
y/b edge (y = b) and* an interior point very near the free-edge (y =
Fig. 3 Interlaminar shear stress distribution at z/h0 = 1.0 b-ho). These results are shown in Fig. 4 where UiZ at the interior
point is shown to converge in less than 25 terms, while UtZ at the
free-edge does not appear to have copverged after 1000 terms. The
divergent character of U,z (b,hQ) may be evidence of the presence
of a singularity at the point (b,hg) as postulated in reference [1].
However, it should be noted that the Fourier representation of
ing equations within each layer. Examination of the coefficient,
Uty at (b,ho) converges to its mean value of zero rather than ±
a(8) and the d6(S) reveals that
5e0//3. Hence, the divergence of Ua (b,h0) may be a result of the
a(+6) = a(-t (9) anomaly in the Fourier series representations of U,y at the point
(b.ho)-
Hence, the governing equation is identical in each layer. Solution The results which have been presented reveal that the approxi-
of the governing equations by the method of separation of vari- mate solution developed here yields results which agree very well
ables yields the displacement function, U of the following form: with numerical solutions of the exact equations of elasticity. It is,
2knir i however, informative to investigate the source of the approxima-
„/2 [( - i f sin s i n fe vy
tion in the solution. This objective may be achieved by examining
the second and third equilibrium equations for a medium subject-
n=l 6=1
c o s fcyS
ed to "uniform axial extension" [1].
(10)
where
2nir/mhr.a 1/2 (11«)

The strain and displacement fields are given by substituting (10) (116)
into (5).
Combining equations (2) and (11) reveals that the only admissi-
Examination of the Solution ble solution for the stress component ryz is
The accuracy of the approximate solution may be considered
by comparing results with the numerical (finite-difference) solu-
tions of the exact equations presented in reference [1]. Material T„„ = 0 (12)
properties utilized in this study are given as follows:
However, the solution for ryz given in equation (5) vanishes only
EX1 = 20.0 x 106 psi (137.9 GPa) when
E22 =£33 = 2.1 X 106 psi (14.5 GPa)
G12 = G13 = G 23 = 0.85 x 106 psi (5.9 GPa) p - ip/a = 0 (13)
V12 = V1S = V23 = 0 . 2 1

The accuracy of the analytic solution for U is demonstrated in Since equation (13) cannot be proven to hold, in general, the

670 / SEPTEMBER 1974 Transactions of the ASME

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 -4.0

1.00 16.!
(~8.3) (-5.5) (-2. (5.5) (8.3)
-1.2 -0.8 -0.4 o 0.8 1.2
_i i i

T 6 psi (GPal
xz' x

Fig. 5 Influence of stacking sequence upon the interlaminar shear

stress

source of the approximation is determined to be.the violation of

equilibrium in the y and z-directions. Examination of the compa-
tibility equations reveals that the solution satisfies each of the six Fig. 6 Eight-layer interlaminar shear stress distribution aty/b = 1.0
equations of compatibility.

Multilayer Problem
Examination of the approximate solution has revealed that it
accurately predicts the behavior of the interlaminar shear stress,
Txz for symmetric, angle-ply laminates of finite width. Since the
finite-difference solution technique employed in reference [1] lim-
ited the investigation to consideration of laminate geometries
which consisted of no more than four layers, it is appropriate to
utilize the approximate solution to examine the multilayer prob-
lem. Previous results presented in reference [1] revealed the inter-
laminar stress to be confined to a boundary layer at the free-edge
of the laminate. In addition, the plane of maximum shear stress,
Txz was shown to coincide with the interface between +45 and
- 4 5 deg layers, while TXZ was observed to vanish at the +45 deg/
+45 deg interface, owing to symmetry conditions. Hence, it was
not possible to investigate the load transfer mechanisms of the
general symmetric angle-ply laminate. Nor was it possible to de-
termine the dependency of the boundary layer width upon the
laminate dimensions. Two such relations might be postulated as
-8.0 -6.0 -4.0 -2.0 0 2.0 4.0 6.0
follows: (-203.2) (-152.4) (-101.6) (-50.8) ,50 8)
i (101.6) (152.4) (203.2)
U ( b , z l / « „ x 10 in ( « m )
1 The boundary-layer width is a function of the layer thick-
ness, ho- Fig?7 Eight-layer axial displacement distribution at y/b = 1.0

2 The boundary-layer width is a function of the laminate

thickness, h.
Clearly, there exists adequate motivation for utilization of the
approximate solution in investigating the response of the multi-
layer problem.
The multilayer problem chosen for investigation was the eight-
layer, angle-ply laminate of ±45 deg fiber orientation. The influ-
ence of stacking sequence of the eight-layer laminate upon the in-
terlaminar shear stress, TXZ is shown in Fig. 5. In stacking se-
quence A, layers of the same orientation are placed in adjacent
positions, while layers are totally interspersed in stacking se-
quence B. The eight-layer stacking sequence A is identical to a
four-layer laminate of layer thickness twice that of the eight-layer
laminate. Hence, the results presented in Fig. 5 reveal the influ-
ence of stacking sequence upon the interlaminar shear stress of
the interface between the +45 deg and - 4 5 deg layers. Clearly,
the postulated singularity in the solution of the four-layer lami-
nate, appears to be present at the free-edge of the eight-layer
laminate as well. This behavior is analogous to variations in the
crack-tip stress distribution of linear elastic fracture mechanics
produced by changes in the magnitude of the stress-intensity fac-
tor.
The distribution of the interlaminar shear stress through the
laminate thickness is shown in Fig. 6 for stacking sequence B.
When this result is compared to that for the four-layer laminate
presented in [1] one major difference between the two distribu-
tions is observed. While the response in the region - 1 . 0 < z//i 0 <
1.0 is identical for the eight and four-layer laminates. The re-
sponse in the regions z/ho > 1.0 is significantly different. This re-
sult indicates that the interlaminar stress distribution for the
four-layer problem is not sufficient for prediction of the behavior
of the multilayer problem.
The axial displacement distribution is shown in Fig. 7 for the
eight-layer problem. The eight-layer axial displacement distribu-
tion shown in Fig. 7 exhibits a complex functional form, where
the maximum displacement occurs at the surfaces z/h0 = ±4.0
and the midplane z/h0 - 0.0; and a near sinusoidal function of
smaller amplitude exists in the region ±1.0 < z/ho < ±3.0.
The influence of laminate geometry, ho/h, upon the boundary-
layer thickness is shown in Fig. 8. The axial distribution at the
laminate surface z/h = 0.5 for the three laminates [45/-45] s , [45/
-45/45/-45] s and [45/-45/45/-45/45/-45/45/-45] s are shown. These
results clearly indicate that the boundary-layer thickness is very
nearly identical to the laminate thickness in each case consid-
ered.

Journal of Applied Mechanics SEPTEMBER 1974 / 671

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 2 114(355.6) layer, within which the interlaminar load transfer is restricted,
has been shown to be a constant for layers of identical fiber orien-
tation but varying stacking sequence. The boundary-layer thick-
ness was found to be equal to the laminate thickness for the 45
deg configuration.

References
1 Pipes, R. B., and Pagano, N. J., "Interlaminar Stresses in Composite
Laminates Under Uniform Axial Extension," Journal of Composite Materi-
als, Vol. 4,1970, p. 538.
2 Puppo, A. H., and Evensen, H. A., "Interlaminar Shear in Laminated
Composites Under Generalized Plane Stress," Journal of Composite Mate-
riais, Vol.4, 1970, p. 204.
3 Pagano, N. J., and Pipes, R. B., "Influence of Stacking Sequence on
Laminate Strength," Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 5, 1971, p.51.
4 Isakson, G., and Levy, A., "Finite-Element Analysis of Interlaminar
i , 1— 1 r: ? —•—• r—- , i o Shear in Fiberous Composites," Journal of Composite Materials Vol. 5,
20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
1971, p. 273.
fJh0
5 Rybicki, E. F., "Approximate Three-Dimensional Solutions for Sym-
Fig. 8 Influence of laminate thickness upon boundary-layer width metric Laminates Under In-Plane Loading," Journal of Composite Materi-
als, Vol. 5,1971, p. 354.
Conclusions 6 Whitney, J. M., "Free-Edge Effects in the Characterization of Com-
posite Materials," Analysis of the Test Methods for High Modulus Fibers
In summary, we have presented an approximate elasticity solu- and Composites, ASTM STP521,1973.
tion for the response of the "m" layer, symmetric angle-ply lami- 7 Oplinger, D. W., "Edge Effects in Angle-Ply Composite," AMMRC
nate under uniform axial strain. The results of the approximate TR 71-62, Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center, Watertown,
solution exhibit excellent agreement with numerical solutions of Mass., 1971.
8 Pipes, R. B., "Solution of Certain Problems in the Theory of Elastici-
the exact equations. The source of approximation is shown to be a ty for Laminated Anisotropic Systems," PhD dissertation, University of
violation of equilibrium in the y and z-directions. The boundary Texas of Arlington, Mar. 1972.

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