Reliability Engineering and System Safety 56 (1997) 237-248

© 1997 Elsevier Science Limited

All rights reserved. Printed in Northern Ireland
ELSEVIER S0951-8320(95)00084-4 0951-8320/97/$17.00

Probabilistic analysis of delamination onset in

linear anisotropic elastic and viscoelastic
composite columns
Harry H. Hilton, Sung Yi & Michael J. Danyluk
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 104 South Wright Street, MC-236, Urbana, IL 61801-2935 USA

Previously developed deterministic and stochastic combined load invariant

failure criteria are used to determine the onset of delamination in elastic and
viscoelastic columns. The analysis includes the effects of initial imperfections
as well as offset column loads and transverse shear contributions. The
delamination predictions are found to be sensitive to the magnitude of applied
loads and of initial imperfections. Illustrative numerical examples are pre-
sented for elastic and viscoelastic columns with random combined failure
stresses in bending, shear, compression and with normal interlaminar stresses.
Probabilities of delamination onset are established for various axial loads and
initial imperfections and in the viscoelastic columns additionally as a function
of ]Lifetime.Since the failure theories consider the combined effects of bending,
shear, compression and normal interlaminar stresses, delamination onset is
predicted at smaller axial loads than the critical buckling loads in the elastic
case and at shorter viscoelastic lifetimes compared to equivalent columns with
no delamination effects. © 1997 Elsevier Science Limited.

1 INTRODUCTION astrophic structural failures (Chai et al. [4]). From a

Polymer matrix composiites are rapidly becoming the
struCtural materials of choice because of their light
weight and relatively high failure stresses which
produce very attractive strength to weight ratios. Even
though their initial be]havior is elastic, composites
require viscoelastic stre,;s-strain and failure analyses
at higher than room temperatures. At these conditions
elastic analyses are inadequate because they fail to
take into account material property degradation time
dependencies of polymer matrix composites. How-
ever, for some forms of loading and for some
conditions, elastic solutions may be considered as first
order "design" approxiraations and they always form
the initial conditions for viscoelastic composite
problems. For example, Ashby and Jones [1] used a
general form of the ,elastic modulus to approxi-
mate the behavior of fiber reinforced composites.
Additional comprehensiive treatments of composite
structural analyses have been presented by
Vinson and Sierakowski [2].
Failure mechanisms observed in composites are
substantially different from those observed in metals
(Hiel et al. [3]). Delamination, a phenomenon unique
to laminated composite:s, is frequently characterized
by rapid crack propagation resulting in eventual cat-
237
design analysis point of view one needs only to
consider delamination onset because at that stage the
structure has, for all practical purposes, failed,
particularly if it is a light weight flight structure.
Dillard and Brinson [5] have formulated an expression
for the temperature, moisture and time dependency of
uniaxial composite failure stresses and Hilton and Yi
[6] have presented an extensive review of available
experimental composite failure data.
The buckling of elastic columns, which are not
subject to delamination, is a purely geometric
phenomenon described by the classical Euler theory
(Timoshenko [7]). However, polymer matrix compos-
ites at moderately elevated temperatures exhibit
general viscoelastic behavior, i.e., they are a class of
materials exhibiting creep and relaxation properties
and, consequently, cause viscoelastic columns to
buckle in time at loads smaller than the Euler loads of
corresponding elastic columns (Ba~ant and Cedolin
[8], Hilton [9], Jahsman and Field [10], Libove [11],
Wilson and Vinson [12]). Polymer composites suffer
from additional problems such as degradation of
material properties (modulus and failure stresses) with
time.
Deterministic elastic and single Maxwell model
viscoelastic delamination buckling has been studied by
238 H. H. Hilton, S. Yi, M. J. Danyluk
Kachanov [13]. Kim et al. [14] have found that elastic
and viscoelastic plates will propagate cracks only after
the buckling stress has been reached, however, it must
be remembered that the plate stability problem is
quite distinct from column buckling. The viscoelastic
laminated plate problem has also been treated
extensively by Wilson and Vinson [15]. Another
interesting problem is the investigation by Suemasu
[16] into the effects of through the width delamina-
tions using a Rayleigh-Ritz approximation and
Timoshenko type shear effects.
Furthermore, viscoelastic material property and
failure condition data are generally very scattered and
may require stochastic analyses (Hilton et al. [17]),
including the possibility of independently random
loads. Stochastic failure criteria under combined
random loads have been formulated by Hilton [18]
and by Hilton and Ariaratnam [19]. Multidimensional
deterministic and stochastic delamination of plates has
been considered respectively by Yi [20] and by Hilton
and Yi [6]. In the latter paper, relationships of
delamination onset probabilities to times of occur-
rence were predicted.
The phenomenon of stochastic delamination buck-
ling combines the consequences of creep buckling,
delamination, random material properties and tem-
peratures, moistures and loads, and of failure (Hilton
and Yi [6]). In the present paper, the effects of
random failure criteria on delamination buckling are
studied under deterministic loads, geometries, moduli,
temperatures and moisture contents. This allows for
an investigation which focuses on random delamina-
tion failure criterion effects under otherwise deter-
ministic conditions.
Viscoelastic failure stresses and moduli decrease in
time, while column bending stresses, strains and
deformations increase with time. Using the ex-
perimentally determined delamination probability
distributions reported by Hiel et al. [3] in conjunction
with the combined load invariant stochastic failure
criterion of Hilton and Ariaratnam [19], probabilities
of delamination onset occurrence as time functions are
formulated and evaluated.
2 ANALYSIS
2.1 General comments
The expressed purpose of this investigation is to
conduct a sensitivity analysis of deterministic and
stochastic delamination onset conditions in composite
columns. In order to isolate this phenomenon only the
failure stresses will be considered random, while all
other parameters such as geometry, temperature,
moisture, applied loads, material properties (moduli)
are deterministic. This approach, as will be seen
subsequently, reduces the usual two failure conditions
(Hilton [18], Hilton and Ariaratnam [19]) to a single
expression. The composite column no longer presents
a simple homogeneous and isotropic Euler type
stability problem, since it is subject to delamination
failures in addition to instability. Furthermore,
because its various ply orientations make up the cross
section, the composite column becomes non-
homogeneous as well as anisotropic. The delamination
onset criterion must account for the combined effects
of bending, shear, compressive and normal interlami-
nar stress conditions of the column. (See Sections 2.2
and 2.4 for a discussion of the relative importance of
these four stress components.)
2.2 Governing relations for elastic columns
Consider an elastic column with constant cross
sectional dimensions 2a by h with a > > h, M
number of plies, an axially applied load P and an
initial imperfection Wo (x) measured at the neutral
axis. This latter function can be expanded in a Fourier
series such that
z¢
Wo(X) = ~ Wm sin(mx~x) (1)
rtt = I
where the axial coordinate x is normalized with
respect to the column length L (Fig. 1). For an
eccentric load and no imperfection, wo--constant.
The initial imperfection or an eccentric load or both
are introduced in order to induce bending at any load
and proceed with a succession of stable bent column
forms up to the buckling load P~r. This condition is a
particularly important one to maintain in viscoelastic
columns where dissipation takes place and time
sequencing of loads and of displacements is critical to
any solution (Hilton [9]). The Euler-Bernoulli Timo-
shenko beam theory is used to derive the governing
P
Mf
IP y
Fig. 1. Freebody diagram of a column in bending and
compression.
 Probabilistic analysis o f delamination onset in linear anisotropic columns 239

elastic relation from tile balance of internal and The compressive stresses due to the axial load P are
external bending moments and reads (see eqns (A6)-(A8))

d4[we(x) - Wo(X)] zZp, d2w~(x) PEe(y)

o'e(y) = (10)
dx 4 --4- dx 2 = 0 (2) ( EeA )eff

where the elastic deflection w e ( x ) is measured at the and the normal interlaminar stresses o~ due to the
neutral axis. For the initial imperfection defined by shear stresses are obtained by integrating the
eqn (1) and for both ends simply supported, the equilibrium equations as
solution to this DE is
= fY 0orse(x'C) d~" (11)
wmsin(mzrx ) o'~(x,y) do Off
(3)
with the shear stresses defined by eqn (9). All four of
these stresses contribute to the onset of delamination
where as governed by the appropriate failure criterion, which
will be discussed in a subsequent section.
P/PE
P* - (4) It should be noted that for Wo and w e defined,
1 - BP/Pe respectively, by eqn (1) and eqn (3), their difference is
with B accounting for transverse shear effects and another Fourier sine series, such that
depending only on geometry and material properties, wmP*sin(mzx )
such that w e ( x ) -- Wo(X ) = mZ _ p , (12)
m=l
B Kz2(Eel)eff indicating that for any elastic column, bending
i_2(aeA)eff (5) moments increase at the same rate, i.e. P*/(m 2 - P*),
as the coefficients of (12) with increasing loads P and
with the Euler load P*. Consequently, the stresses try, and ~ increase at
this same rate, while the ~ ' s increase at a lower rate,
PE rc2(Eel)4f
L2 (6) i.e. P*/(1 + BP*), since

ire(y) = e*ge(Y)(L)2(Eel)eff (13)

where the eff quantities are defined in Appendix A 1 + BP* (EeA)4I"
and the parameter K is the Timoshenko shear factor.
The subscript eft indicates effective quantities to (See also subsequent discussion after eqn (3)
account for the distinct ply properties, eqns (2)-(5) regarding the influence of these four stresses and P*
are based on the usual assumption of constant on failure.)
(average) transverse shear strain. (See eqns (A4)-
(A5).) 2.3 Governing relations for viscoelastic columns
The critical load Pcr for the column with transverse
shear effects is The previously derived relations for elastic columns
(Section 2.2 can be readily recast into similar forms by
RE
Per = < PE. (7) using the elastic-viscoelastic integral transform
1 + [KPz/(GeA)4y] analogy (Hilton [21], Hilton and Dong [22]) or sums
From the above solution for the column deflection of separation of variable solution forms (Hilton [9]).
w e, it is now possible to determine axial stresses due The viscoelastic relaxation function ~(y,t) is always
to bending (see eqns (A1) and (A2)) representable by an exponentially decaying Prony
time series and if all the plies have the same
pwe(x)Ee(y)y viscoelastic time response, i.e. only spatial anisotropic
tr~(x,y) = (8) behavior (Hilton and Dong [22]), then
(E~I)~fr
• (y,t) = E~(y)dP'(t)
and shear stresses due to bending and transverse shear
as (see eqns (A3) and (A5))
- E - e(y Eo+ ~ E, exp{ - ~(t)/r, (14a)
n=l
tre(x'Y) =
P
(EeI)effh(y)
d[we(x)]
dx
f[ Ee(y')h(y ')y'dy'
and it is related to the viscoelastic Youn_g's modulus
through the Fourier transform relation E (y,to)= ito
KPGe(y) d[we(x) - Wo(X)] with i = X/Z- 1. If the plies do not possess the same
(GeA)e~r dx (9) time response because the material is non-
240 H. H. Hilton, S. Yi, M. J. Danyluk

homogeneous either due to temperature distributions forms. The expression for the compressive stresses or,.,
T(y,t), moisture contents M(y,t), different eqn (10), remains unchanged since for E ( y , t ) = E e ( y )
fiber/matrix combinations in each ply or any E~(t) it does not depend on material properties E~(t)
combination of these three, then or on deflections. It should be noted that the elastic
¢b(y,t) = Eedp~(y,t) solution (3), while valuable in its own right, forms the
initial conditions for the viscoelastic column at t =0.
Equations (16)-(18), of course, do not apply when the
= E ~ Eo(y) + ~, E~(y)exp{ - ~ ( y , t ) / ~ ( y (14b) relaxation functions are of the nonseparable form
n=l
E ( y , t ) , i.e. both spatial and time variations are
where the coefficients E,, relaxation times r, and the orientation dependent. In the latter case, the to
reduced time ~ ( x , y , z , t , T , M ) are material property functions do not drop out of the ratios E e E v
parameters. At the initial time, t = 0, E ( y , O ) = Ee(y), (y,to)/[E e E ~ (y,to)I]eff=E e dp" (y,to)/[E e dpv
the effective elastic Young's modulus, and therefore (Y,to)]eff. (See Section 3.3.)
for all viscoelastic materials However, for either E e ( y ) E ' ( t ) or E e E ' ( y , t ) , the
N solution to the governing eqn (16) can be obtained
E E, = 1 (15) either directly or by application of the transform
n=o
analogy to the elastic solution (3). The latter approach
with similar expressions for the viscoelastic shear yields for the Fourier transform of the viscoelastic
relaxation function G e ( y ) OPt(t) or G ~ rP~(y,t). The deflection
reduced time is defined as ~(x,y,z,t) = f'o
[T(x,y,z,t'),M(x,y,z,t')] dt' and the shift function ar is Wmsin(mlrx )
w(x, to) = m=l
~ 1 _--~2] (19)
another material property. (See Tables 1 and 2 for
typical material properties.) which upon inversion formally gives
This nonhomogeneous composite column has a
viscoelastic Young's mo__dulus with a Fourier transform w(x,t) ~ exp(itot)dto .] (20)
E~(y) E" (to), where E" (to) is the complex modulus. = ~ [Wmsin(mzrx)f~ .
m=, -~ 1 -- [P*(to)/m 2] 3"
Taking the Fourier transform of eqn (2), substituting
the corresponding complex moduli for every E e and Equation (19) can also sometimes be inverted by
G e yields the governing viscoelastic differential partial fractions, or numerically with the help of fast
equation in the (x,to) space Fourier transforms (Loan [23]) or by using Schapery's
[24] approximate inversion method. The convolution
04[~(X, to) -- ~oo(X)] -- 02[~(X, to)] integral in eqn (20) can be formally evaluated if the
+ zcz~o--~(to) = 0 (16)
3X4 3X 2 time functions are not too complicated. Alternately,
approximate integration approaches such as those due
with P * (to) defined by eqn (40). For viscoelastic
to Zak [25] or numerical analyses due to Yi and
columns with moduli E ( y , t ) = E~(y) E~(t), eqn (4)
Hilton [26] can also be employed.
and eqn (5) need to be modified to read
ew(x,t)E~(y)y 2.4 Deterministic failure criteria
O'b(X,y,t ) = (17)
( Eel),ff
Shanley and Ryder [27] developed an empirical
and
deterministic failure concept for combined loads based
P O[ ,t)] h(y,)y,Ee(y,)dy , on so-called stress ratios, which has been used
o'~(x,y,t) = -
(EeI)effh(y) extensively for almost six decades in the aerospace
industry. It consists of comparing uniaxial stresses oi
K P G e ( y ) O[w(x,t) - Wo(X)] to their corresponding uniaxial failure stresses F~. The
(18)
( GeA Ox analytical statement of this criterion for q number of
where w(x,t) is the viscoelastic deflection. The combined loads is
interlaminar normal stress o-, (x,y,t) is directly q

determined from eqn (11) by the usual substitution of E [R,]°'= R (21)

i=l
the complex moduli for the corresponding elastic ones
and by subsequent inversion of the Fourier trans- where deterministic failure occurs whenever R => 1.
The exponents ai are functions of types and
combinations of loading, geometry and material
Table 1. Elastic Moduli (psi)
properties. The stress ratios Ri are defined by
E e. = 25E6 e _
E22 - 1E6 e
G12 = 0"5E6
G~3 = 0"2E6 v72 = 0"25 vii = 0"25 tyi
Ri E (22)
 Probabilistic analysis of delamination onset in linear anisotropic columns 241

Table 2. Elastic Effective Properties (psi) and Euler Load (Ibs)

Layups J% G:‘, PE
o”/oo 2.5062E + 7 2+HlOOE +5 3.255218 + 4 3,213
90”/90” 1.0025E + 6 2.5062E + 5 1.30208E + 3 129.0
0”/90” 1.3032E + 7 2.2531E + 5 1.6968E + 4 4,187
90”/0” 1.3032E + 7 2.2531E + 5 2.86458E + 4 2,827
15”/-15” 2.1978E + 7 2.0339E + 5 2.86174E + 4 7,061
30”/-30” 1.4629E + 7 2.1265E + 5 1.90486E + 4 4,500
45”/-45 7.1416E + 6 2.2531E + 5 9.29896E + 4 9,178

For the present problem, q = 4 and criteria, the applied elastic stresses gb, a, and Us, but
not a, nor the elastic failure stresses, are functions of
position (x,y) only. For viscoelastic columns all
R3 = R, = a,/F, R4 = R, = a,,F, (23) stresses additionally depend on time t as well and all
failure stress invariants J,(F,, F,, FC, F,) are also time
withab=2,a,=2anda,= a,=l.
dependent. Consequently, the quantities R, R* and
It was noted in Sectio.n 2.2 that the stresses o,, o,
R** then also become functions of (x,y,t) and in a
and a, increase more ralpidly than a, with increasing
more general sense of (x,y,z,t).
P*. The values of ab and a, in comparison to a, make
For viscoelastic materials, the failure stresses fi are
this effect even more pronounced when considering
time, temperature T, moisture M and age dependent.
delamination onset failures.
For constant T = T, and M = M,, and considering
Hilton and Ariaratnam [19] have reformulated the
only T and M effects, they are given for each failure
Shanley-Ryder criterion [27] in terms of any three
condition by
fundamental applied and failure stress invariants. This
formulation is considerable more attractive for 4 =j(t)Fe(T,,M,) (1 pi 5 q). (27)
anisotropic materials since it is direction independent
and since it lends itself to1graphical 3-D failure surface In particular, if w, in eqn (1) is represented by only
representations, whereas the Shanley-Ryder condi- a single term and provided that all relaxation moduli
tion requires q-dimensional failure surfaces and are of the form E’(y) E”(t) (see Section 2.3), then any
recalculations for each directional material property viscoelastic stress is defined by two separable
change. The simplest invariant form is functions

C($)“‘($)“‘($)“‘=R**. (24) uii(x,Y,Z,t) = gl(t)ei(X,y,Z) (15 i 5 q) (28)

where the function g,(t) can be directly obtained from

The exponents bj, however, while not equal to the
eqn (20) as wl times the w integral.
ai’s in (21) are functions of the same parameters.
The Shanley-Ryder [27] failure criterion then yields
Hilton and Ariaratnam [19] have pointed out that the
above multiplicative invariant failure relation (24)
could just as easily be replaced by an additive one of i($ “i’;‘z’)a’
= I
R(x,y,z,t). (29)
the form
It is seen that even under these simplified
= R*. (25) circumstances R(x,y,z,t) is not a separable function of
time and space (unless all the J’s in (27) are identical
For the problem considered here, the stress and unless all the aj’s in (29) are equal, which is an
invariants are unlikely occurrence) and consequently the points or
regions in the structure where R L 1 are not the same
in the viscoelastic case as those in the corresponding
elastic one due to the nonlinearities of the failure
criteria.
53 = (lab( + [c-\)~ + la,13 + (lahl + [a,[ + l~l)a,2 (26) Similarly, for the same general conditions the
with similar expressions for the failure stress Hilton-Ariaratnam [19] invariant failure condition
invariants Ji =Ji (F,,F,,F,,F,), i.e. with the U’S in eqn (25) yields
(26) replaced by corresponding F’s. In the determinis-
tic analysis, failure is again indicated by R* or ; $ [+$;i”;y;))]c’ = R*(x,y,z,t) (30)
R** 2 1. For the present problem in both failure I I I 0, 0
242 H. H. Hilton, S. Yi, M. J. Danyluk
since
Ji(x,y,z,t) = {gl(t)}i Ji [O'kl(X,y,z)]
with no summation on i and only if f = f(t) for all i,
then
~(x,y,z,t) = {f(t)}i~[F~(To, Mo)]
otherwise the J~ are non separable functions. In eqn
(30), R* is again a non separable function of (x,y,z,t)
even if all the f ' s are identical, unless all the c;'s are
also equal to each other. The multiplicative invariant
condition of eqn (24) leads to a separable form of R**
when the f/'s are equal, indicating that for the
viscoelastic composite a single product criterion is not
an admissible form. One must, therefore, choose a
more complicated expression, such as at least
( J1 ~b'{&'~b2( J3 ~b3 ( J1 ~d'( J2 ~d2(J3 )d3
C
=R+(x,y,z,t).
However, this defeats the purpose of "easy"
computations for the exponents b~ in (24) since this
equation can be turned into a linear expression in the
b's with the use of logarithms. Equation (25) becomes
the invariant failure relation of choice for viscoelastic
materials, because it leads to the proper functional
definition of R*. The non integer exponents a,-, b~, c~
and d i a r e all evaluated by a least square curve fit of
the selected failure criterion (21), (24), (25) or (33) to
the appropriate deterministic experimental data
(MIL-HDBK-5F [28], Starlinger et al. [29]).
2.5 Stochastic failure criteria
Hilton [18] has shown that the deterministic
Shanley-Ryder [27] criterion (21) can be recast into
two stochastic ones, such that
~\
(~)ai=f, and ~ (~.~o,
\F,./ = 0
i=1 i=1
where F, and ai are mean values ^ and the random
variables are indicated with a Failure occurs
whenever
/~/= 9" - fi - 0.
Similarly, Hilton and Ariaratnam [19] have
formulated invariant stochastic failure conditions (25)
as
1 ~' 1 ~'
g = 17" and g = O
with the failure condition still given by eqn (35).
It was further shown by Hilton [18], Hilton and Yi
[6] and Hilton and Ariaratnam [19], that for deter-
ministic applied loads and random failure stresses, or
(31) vice versa, one needs only to apply a probability
density function (PDF) to any of the R's in eqns (21),
(24), (25) and (33). Hiel et al. [3] have reported
experimental delamination data which can be
(32) represented by a Weibull type PDF (Lin [30],
Lindquist [31]). Upon integrating this PDF, one
obtains the failure probability 15 as
['(x,y,z,t) = 1 - exp[ - {~t(x,y,z,t)//3} ~] (37)
where the material property parameters a and/3 and
their values were discussed in detail by Hiel et al. [3]
and Hilton and Yi [6]. The symbol ~1 represents C/from
eqn (35) based on either R, R*, R** or R + depending
on which of the above failure criterion is used. Since
for the column problem the stresses Orb, Orn and Ors are
functions of x, y and t, it follows that the failure
probabilities P are also dependent on position within
the column and on time.
(33) The purpose of the present deterministic delamina-
tion analysis is to determine a point or a region in the
column where R (x,y,t)-> 1. In the stochastic case,
one seeks similar points or regions where P (x,y,t) = 1
or alternately the maximum probability value P (x,y,t)
<1 for a prescribed time to indicate the column
survival probability under a prescribed load P < Pcr or
P * < I and a given initial imperfection Wo(X).
3 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
3.1 Deterministic elastic behavior
As illustrative examples, imperfections with only the
first term of the series (1) are considered to simplify
the analysis. For a given geometry and material, i.e.
Young's modulus E e, the only open parameters left
are the load P or the load ratio P*, eqn (4), and the
amplitude wl of the initial imperfection. The column
dimensions for this example are 0.25 by 2-5 by 10
inches. For a rectangular cross section K = 1.2. The
(34) column consists of four laminates which are
symmetrically placed about the neutral axis. Tables 1
and 2 list material properties for the composite
column.
Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 depict the values of R* and
probability of elastic delamination vs load ratios P/PE
(35) for wl equal to 1/100, 1/64 and 1/32 inches and for
two layups, i.e. 00/90 ° and 90o/0 °. Delamination onset
in the deterministic sense is indicated by R* -> 1. Since
any of the R's is a function of x and y, the solution (3)
to the DE is introduced into eqn (4) and eqn (5) and
R is determined for all y's at each x location where an
(36) interface exists. The largest value of R for each x is
then compared and the global maximum for the
column is established and then displayed in these
figures. The values of PE vary with the layup
 Probabilistic analysis of delamination onset in linear anisotropic columns 243

Layup = 90/0 Layup = 90/0

1.0

/ / 1.0
0.9
wl = 1/32" wl = 1/64"

0.7 /
/
/ l,,oo,,
/w,=l,,OO..
0.8

0.7

0.6
R* R* 0.5
0.6
0.4

0.5 0.3

0.2
0.4
0.1
I I 0.0 I I I I
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Load ratio (P/PE) Load ratio (P/PE)

Fig. 2. Maximum elastic stress ratio R* as a function of Fig. 4. Maximum elastic stress ratio R* as a function of
PIPe for '900/0° layup. PiPe for 0°/90 ° layup.

combinations (Table 2), since the effective moduli
have different values, and therefore the values of the
load ratios are not comparable between these two
pairs of figures even for the same load P. The x - y
location where delamination first occurs is of no
practical importance for uniform columns, since once
delamination is initiated the column is considered to
have failed. In variable cross section columns, not
considered here, such delamination location informa-
tion can be used to redesign sections in order to delay
delamination onset there.
A n examination of Fig,; 2 and 4 clearly shows that,
as expected, the larger the load ratio P/PF. and the
amplitude Wl the m o r e likely that delamination onset
will take place. The nature of the curves in these two
figures reflect effects of the individual terms in eqn
(21) and eqn (24). The inltuence of shear and bending
stresses on R* are greater for the largest Wo than can
be seen for the other two smaller values. This is
evident from the nonlinear nature of the correspond-
ing curves in each of these figures which becomes
m o r e pronounced as the initial imperfection increases.
The increased imperfection results in bending and
shear stresses having a greater influence on the
nonlinearity of the curves.
3.2 Probabilistic elastic behavior
The deterministic results for R discussed in the
previous section and displayed in Figs 2 and 4 are next
introduced into eqn (34) in order to obtain the
probability of delamination o n s e t / ' . These values of P
are shown in Figs 3 and 5 as functions of the
normalized imperfection amplitude wl/L and the load
ratio P/PE. The curves show a probability of
delamination onset close to unity for all wl's, as the
load ratio increases while still remaining considerably
less than unity at lower w~ values. The two probability
figures show the same trends for the two radically
diverse layups.

/ /-
Layup = 90/0
Layup = 90/0 1.0
1.0 = 1/32"

0.8 g 0.8 - wl = 1/64'

/w,=,,64/ .00
4 0.6 4 0.6
~0.5~
0.4 / /w,=,/lO0" ~0.5,0.4
03 -03
~ z

A" 0 1
0.C
0.3 0.4
Load ratio (P/PE)
I
0.5 0.6
~-. 0.1
0.0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Load ratio (P/PE)
l 0.7
=~1
i

0.8

Fig. 3. Maximum probability of elastic delamination onset Fig. 5. Maximum probability of elastic delamination onset
vs. PiPe for 90°/0 ° layup. vs. P/PE for 00/90° layup.
244
3.3 Deterministic viscoelastic behavior
Schapery [24] formulated an approximate inversion
technique which gives reasonable results in quasi-
static viscoelasticity, but not in dynamic problems
(Sackman [32]). It basically provides for the
evaluation of a function f(t) which has a Laplace
transform f(p) or a Fourier transform f (or) through
the following relations
f(t)--pf(p)lp=o.5, = ito](to)li,o=p.
In particular, one obtains from eqn
viscoelastic deflection as
= ...~1 itowmsin(mltx)
w(x,t)
= 1 - - ~
where from eqns (4)-(6) in general for E (y,to)=
E e ( y ) E v ( t o ) and for G (y,to) = a e ( y ) a v (to)
P unacceptable inaccurate inversions for the complex
P*(to) P--EE(to)-- ~(to)P
~ ( to ) -- glr2[ E e ~ ( to )lleff
L2[GeGO(to)A]e ff
~ ( to ) - x2[Ee~( to)I]4I
LZ
In eqn (41), the to functions divide out if both
moduli__ are separable functions and if E ~= G °. Note
that P* (to) always remains a function of to due to eqn
(42) regardless of what form the moduli take.
The normalized relaxation function can be obtained
from eqns (14a) or (14b) as
= [ En(y)
O~(y, to) = Eo(y)lto. + ~=~
~ kito + ar(y)/r~(y)J"
Similarly, fro_m eqn (18) one obtains for the shear
stresses__when E(y,to)= Ee(y) E v (to) and G (y,to) =
G e ( y ) E v (to)
P O[w(x,t)] fa . .
O's(x,y,t) = (Eel)crib(y) -~x Jy ntY )y t~ ty )oy
KPGe(y) a[w(x,t) - Wo(X)]
( G e A )elf Ox
Bending and compressive stresses are directly
obtained from eqns (8) and (11). For non separable
moduli, E e E ~ (y,to), the Fourier transforms of
bending, shear, compressive and interlaminar normal
stresses are
= Pw(x'to)E~(Y'to)Y
O'b(X,y, to) = [E~(to)i]ell
H. H. Hilton, S. Yi, M. J. Danyluk
m
P 0[w(x, to)l
tr,(x,y, to) - m
[EV(y, to)l]elih(y) Ox
X fy'E v (y ',to )h(y ' )y ' dy '
KPGO(y,to)O[w(x, to) - Wo(X)]
(46)
[G"(to)A]4i Ox
= PE~(Y'to) (47)
~c(y,to)- [E~(to)A]ell
(38)
~(x,y, to) = JY O~(x,~,to) (48)
(19) the 7( dc
Equations (45), (46), (47) and (48) can be inverted
using the integral approach of eqn (20), by partial
fractions, by fast Fourier transform methods (FFT) or
,0=0.5,, (39)
by using the approximate method of eqn (38). Both
the approximate inversion method of eqn (38) and the
FFT methods, while giving excellent inversion results
for the viscoelastic moduli of eqn (43), yielded totally
(40) deformation given by eqn (19) and had to be
abandoned for this problem for practical reasons. The
difficulty with the FFT inversion is the necessity to
(41) carry out computations in an to range of 0 to about
1013 to achieve any trustworthy results. Such a
computation is prohibitively expensive in CPU time as
(42) well as in storage even on a supercomputer, as Yi [33]
discussed in detail. A formal analytical partial fraction
inversion of (19) was used and then the stresses as
time functions can be found from eqns (17), (18), (47)
and (48).
For the sake of simplicity, the nondimensional
viscoelastic relaxation function Oo(t) was limited to
two terms in order to make the formal partial fraction
inversion less cumbersome. The form considered here
.] is
(43)
O~(t) = 0.2 + 0-8 exp ( - t/0-4). (49)
This truncation of eqn (14a) with N = 1 does not
affect the general shape of the relaxation function
@o(t), but only its ability to properly model real
material behavior for which 1 0 <- N - 30 is generally
. . . . . . . . . needed. Consequently, the general character of the
solutions for o'i,/~ and P remains unaltered.
Figure 6 shows the uniaxial delamination normal
and shear failure stresses as functions of time and
(44) moisture content as reported by Dillard and Brinson
[5]. These failure stresses as well as the viscoelastic
moduli decrease in time, but the column deflections
and stresses increase due to creep. Essentially, the
stresses, the ratios R* and the failure probabilities /5
are all driven by the stress amplitudes gl(t) of eqn
(28).
Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 show stress ratios and
(45) probabilities of viscoelastic delamination onset for
various layups. Figures 7, 9 and 11 show the maximum
 Probabilistic analysis of delamination onset in linear anisotropic columns 245

8.0.103 0

7.0.103 _Load = 300 Layup = 0I / 9 0 / /I

t~6.0.103 ~ -4
- ~O~o '~ -6
o 5.0.10 3
-----
_
~ ....
z--~'S--'--'I~--_~_
O ~ -8
"~ 4.0.103
e~
~ -10 /
3.0.103 _
~.o
-° _ 7 - .
O-12-14
,.d
2.0.10: I I I I I L l
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 10-2 10-1 100 10I
Log t (mins) Log [time]
Creep delamination normal strength in x3, M = 0% Fig. 8. Maximum probability of viscoelastic delamination
. . . . Creep delamination shear strength in x2 - x3, M = 0% onset as a function of time for 00/90 ° and 900/0 ° layups.
--e-- Creep delamination normal strength in x3, M = 1.6%
- -e-- Creep delamination shear strength in x2 - x3, M = 1.6%

Fig. 6. Uniaxial viscoelastic: delamination failure stresses.

viscoelastic stress ratio R* for two initial imperfections
and five different layups. The effect of decreasing
imperfection magnitude is to delay the time for
delamination onset. While there is a m a r k e d
difference in delamination times for the 0°/90 ° and
90o/0 ° layups, the 1 5 ° / - 15 °, 3 0 ° / - 30 ° and 4 5 ° / - 45 °
layups show less p r o n o u n c e d effects but follow the
same general trends.
3.4 Probabilistic viscoelastic behavior
column cannot survive with time. As the deflection
increases the probability of delamination approaches
unity, even though the corresponding elastic column
at t --0 has a probability of delamination onset of 10 -9
or less. As expected, the larger the initial imperfection
the shorter the column lifetime. Also of some interest
are the results showing that the column with a 900/0 °
layup survives longer than the one with a 00/90 °
orientation. This is due to the fact that even though
the effective moduli are equal, the 90°/0 ° layups have
larger (EeI)eff, i.e. they are stiffer in bending. All
columns were subjected to an axial compressive load
of 300 lbs.

Figures 8, 10 and 12 are the probability plots, for

various initial imperfection amplitudes w~ and layups
and were derived from the R* values with a Weibull
distribution and consequently follow the same trends
as the R* curves. These graphs, as well as the
deterministic R* ones, !indicate that a viscoelastic
4 CONCLUSIONS
Both elastic and viscoelastic deterministic and
stochastic delamination results are strongly influenced
by the magnitudes of the initial imperfections and of

// /
h0

l/ 0/
0.9
0.9- Load = 300Layup= 30/-30 /
0.8-
0.7- l
0.8 Layup = 0190
°7I- I wl=l~00 II I 0.6 wl = 1/100 ~ /~
R* 0.5-
R * 005
"6t
04 1
~
9 0 0
~ L
.
a
yup =
/
0.4- // / / Layt
I- I //<w, =,,ioooi 03

0.2-
0.2 0.1- ~0o:
0.1 0.0 L I I I I k
0 I 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time Time
Fig. 7. Maximum viscoelastic stress ratio R* as a function of Fig. 9. Maximum viscoelastic stress ratio R* as a function of
time for 0°/90 ° and 90°/0 ° layups. time for 15°/-15 ° and 300/-30 ° layups.
246 H. H. Hilton, S. Yi, M. J. Danyluk

0 the compressive loads. Since the failure criteria are

Load = 300
based on bending, shear, compressive and normal
-2 Layup = 15/-15
o
interlaminar stresses, delamination onset occurs at
o wl = 1/100
-4 loads considerably lower than the corresponding Euler

!
.E Layup = 30/-30 / critical loads or the loads at which creep buckling
-6 wl = 1/100 - -
occurs without delamination. The influences of axial
-8 Layup = 30/-30 j loads and of initial imperfections on delamination
wl = 1/1000 [
/ onset probabilities are nonlinear. In viscoelastic
-10
Layup = 15/-15 / composite columns, delamination will occur at any
w l = l ~
-12~- constant compressive load at some finite critical times
-14
in a m a n n e r similar to the eventual creep buckling
o times in non composite columns.
-16 t B
10-2 10-I 100 101
Log [time]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Fig. 10. Maximum probability of viscoelastic delamination
onset as a function of time for 15°/-15 ° and 300/-30 ° This p a p e r is dedicated to our friend and colleague
layups. Dr. R o b e r t A. E u b a n k s (1926-1994), Professor
Emeritus of Civil Engineering and of Theoretical and
Applied Mechanics, U I U C .

1.o
Load = 300 REFERENCES
0.9

0.8
1. Ashby, M. F. and Jones, D. R. H., Engineering
Materials. Pergamon Press, New York, 1986.
0.7 Layup = 30/-30 I I I I 2. Vinson, J. R. and Robert L. Sierakowski, R. T., The
0.6 /-4
Behavior of Structures Composed of Composite
R* Materials. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Boston, 1987.
0.5 I / I Layup = 45/-45 3. Hiel, C. C., Sumich, M. and Chappell, D. P., A curved
beam test specimen for determining the interlaminar
0.30.4 ~ / 1 0 0 0 tensile strength of a laminated composite. Journal of
Composite Materials, 1991, 25, 854-868.
4. Chai, H., Knauss, W. G. and Babcock, C. D.,
0.2 / /----___ L~yup= 30/-30 Observation of damage growth in compressively loaded
0.0 wl = 1/1000
laminates. Experimental Mechanics, 1983, 30, 329-337.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 5. Dillard, D. A. and Brinson, H. F., A numerical
Time procedure for predicting and delayed failures in
Fig. 11. Maximum viscoelastic stress ratio R* as a function laminated composites. Long Term Behavior of
of time for 30°/-30 ° and 45°/-45 ° layups. Composites, (ed. T. K. O'Brien), ASTM STP 813
(1983) 23-37.
6. Hilton, H. H. and Yi, S., Stochastic viscoelastic
delamination onset failure analysis of composites.
Journal of Composite Materials, 1993, 27, 1097-1113.
7. Timoshenko, S. P., Theory of Elastic Stability.
~ 0 "I""YT"F--
Load=300 ]II ] McGraw-Hill, New York, 1936.
I III 8. Ba~uant, Z. P. and Cedolin, L., Stability of Structures - -
Layup = 45/-45 1 II I Elastic, Inelastic, Fracture and Damage Theories Oxford
",2, wl = 1/100 [ [I] University Press, New York, 1991, 584-632.
~ -4 9. Hilton, H. H., Creep collapse of viscoelastic columns
I III
"~ -6 I
Layup=45/-45 I [I [ with initial curvatures. Journal of Aeronautical Science,
Wl ll00O 1952, 19, 844-846.
10. Jahsman, W. E. and Field, F. A., Comparison of
~ -8 theoretical and experimental creep buckling times of
r, _ Layup = 30/-30 ] I initially straight, centrally loaded columns. Journal of
e~ -10 wl = 1/100 ~ [ Aerospace Science, 1962, 29, 431-433.
-- Layup = 30/-30 f ] 11. Libove, C., Creep buckling of columns. Journal of
~ -12
Aeronautical Science, 1952, 19, 459-467.
.1
-14 12. Wilson, D. W. and Vinson, J. R., Viscoelastic buckling
10-2 10-I 100 10 I analysis of laminated composite columns. Recent
Log [time] Advances in Composites in the United States and Japan,
ASTM STP 864, (ed. J. R. Vinson and M. Taya) ASTM,
Fig. 12. Maximum probability of viscoelastic delamination Philadelphia, 1985, 368-383.
onset as a function of time for 300/-30 ° and 45°/-45 ° 13. Kachanov, L. M., Delamination Buckling of Composite
layups. Materials, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 1988.
 Probabilistic analysis of delamination onset in linear anisotropic columns 247

14. Kim, W. C., Miller, T. C. and Dharan, C. K., Strength
of composite sandwich panels containing debonds.
International Journal of Solids and Structures, 1992, 30,
211-223.
15. Wilson, D. W. and Vinson, J. R., Viscoelastic analysis of
laminated plate buckling. AIAA Journal, 1984, 22,
982-988.
16. Suemasu, H., Effects of multiple delaminations on
compressive buckling behaviors of composite panels.
Journal of Composite Materials, 1992, 27, 1172-1193.
17. Hilton, H. H., Hsu, J. and Kirby, J. S., Linear
viscoelastic analysis with random material properties.
Journal of Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, 1991, 6,
57-69.
18. Hilton, H. H., Structural reliability and minimum weight
analysis for combined random loads. Presented at the
First Int. Conf. Computational Stochastic Mechanics,
1991, Corfu, Greece. Submitted to AIAA J.
19. Hilton, H. H. and Ariaratnam, S. T., Invariant
anisotropic large deformation deterministic and stoch-
astic combined load failure criteria. International
Journal of Solids and Structures, 1994, 31, 3285-3293.
20. Yi, S., Thermoviscoelastic analysis of delamination
onset and free edge response in epoxy matrix composite
laminates. AIAA Paper 91-0962-CP, 1991. AIAA
Journal 1993, 32, 2320-2328.
21. Hilton, H. H., An introduction to viscoelastic analysis,
Engineering Design for Plastics (ed. E. Baer). Reinhold
Publishing Corp., New York, 1964, pp.199-276.
22. Hilton, H. H. and Dong, S. B., An analogy for
anisotropic, nonhomoge.neous linear viscoelasticity in-
cluding thermal stresses. Development in Mechanics,
Pergamon Press, New York, 1964, pp.58-73.
23. Loan, C. V., Computational Frameworks for the Fast
Fourier Transform. SIAM, Philadelphia, 1992.
24. Schapery, R. A., Approximate methods of transform
inversion for viscoelastic stress analysis. Proceedings of
the Fourth U.S. National Congress of Applied
Mechanics, 1962, 2, 107.';-1085.
25. Zak, A. R., Structural analysis of realistic solid
propellant materials. Journal of Spacecraft & Rockets,
1967, 5, 270-275.
26. Yi, S. and Hilton, H. H., Dynamic finite element
analysis of viscoelastic composite plates in the time
domain. International Journal of Numerical Methods in
dissertation, AAE Department, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, 1992.
34. Hilton, H. H. and Piechocki, J. J., Shear center motion
in beams with temperature-dependent linear elastic or
viscoelastic properties. Fourth US National Congress of
Applied Mechanics, 1962, 2, 1279-1289, ASME, New
York.
APPENDIX A
Derivation of effective quantities
A n elastic or viscoelastic column made up of any
n u m b e r of laminates has n o n h o m o g e n e o u s anisotropic
properties since the modulus varies from ply to ply
and is defined by Ee(y) or Ee(y) E(t) or E e E(y,t).
Although it m a y be considered constant throughout
each ply, it nevertheless becomes a different y-step
function for each ply. Hilton and Piechocki [34] have
formulated analyses and solutions for unsymmetric
bending in n o n h o m o g e n e o u s elastic and viscoelastic
beams and their results are applicable to the
composite column problem. For the present elastic
column based on plane sections remaining plane,
these relations translate to
M~Ee(y)y
aeb(x,y) -- (A1)
(EeI)erZ
where
(Eel)elf = Ee(y')y'2dy'. (A2)
a
The bending m o m e n t is Mb = - P w.
Equilibrium conditions yield the expression for the
shear stress due bending as
P dwe(x)
=

Engineering, 1994, 37, 4081-4096. (EeI)4ih(y) dx

27. Shanley, F. R. and Ryder, E. I., Stress ratios: The

28.
answer to the combined loading problem. Aviation,
1937, 36, 28-29, 43, 66-70.
Anonymous, Metallic Materials and Elements for
x
f; h(y')U(y')y'dy' (A3)

Aerospace Structures, MIL-HDBK-5F. U.S. Govern- where h(y') is the cross sectional thickness.
ment Printing Office, Washington, 1991. The additional stresses due transverse shear
29. Starlinger, A., Duffy, S. F. and Palko, J. L., Parameter deformations corresponding to a small uniform shear
estimation techniques based on optimizing goodness-of- rotation of d ( w e - W o ) / d x , i.e. ~,(x), and H o o k e ' s law
fit statistics for structural reliability. Reliability, Stress
Analysis and Failure Prevention (ed. R. J. Schaller) in shear ¢r~(x,y) = Ge(y) E~(x) gives
DE-55 (1993) ASME, New York. KPGe(y) d[we(x) - Wo(X)]
30. Lin, Y. K., Probabdistic Theories of Structural ¢r~(x,y) = (A4)
Dynamics. McGraw-Hil)[, New York, 1967. ( G" A )eff dx
31. Lindquist, E. S., Strength of materials and the Weibull
distribution. Journal of Probabilistic Engineering where
Mechanics, 1994, 9, 191--194.
32. Sackman, J. L., A remark on transient stresses in (GeA)eff = Ge(y')h(y')dy'. (A5)
nonhomogeneous viscoelastic materials. Journal of a

Aerospace Science, 1962, 29, 1015-1016.

33. Yi, S., Finite element analysis of anisotropic viscoelastic It can be seen from eqn (A4) that the constant e,
composite structures and analytical determination of assumption is not justified, since it leads to nonzero
optimum viscoelastic material properties. Ph. D. shear stresses at the free surfaces y = + a , which could
248 H. H. Hilton, S. Yi, M. J. D a n y l u k

be rectified with the introduction of higher order therefore yielding

terms in Es.
Finally, the compressive stress ~ ( y ) is based on the pEe(y)
one dimensional compatibility condition that the f i e ( y ) = ( E e A )---~ff" (A8)
compressive strains Ec(y) are the same for all plies, i.e.
ee(y) = const., then Similar expressions can be derived for viscoelastic
columns by replacing every elastic modulus E e or
o'e(y) : E e ( y ) e e (A6)
a e by __the corresponding__ viscoelastic complex moduli
and E e ( y ) E" (~o) or E e E " (y,~o) and G e ( y ) a v (~o) or G e
P = E~ ~_aEe( y ' ) h ( y ' ) d y ' = ~¢(E~A)eII (A7) G ° (y,oJ). Typical Ee{eff} and (EeI){eff} values are
given in Table 2 for the moduli of Table 1.