Using Composites Analysis to Predict Interlaminar Stresses | CAE Associates https://caeai.com/resources/using-composites-analysis-predict-interlamina...

LO GIN (/USER/LO GIN) CART (/CART)

Engineering ANSYS Softw are Resource ANSYS About New s& Contact
Consulting & Support Library Training Us Insights Us
(/engineering- (/ansys-softw are- (/resources) (/ansys- (/about- (/new s- (/contact-
(/) consulting) support) training) us) insights) us)

you are here: (/)/ Resources (/resources)/ Using C om posites Analysis to PredictInterlam inar Stresses

There is m uch confusion aboutwhatinterlam inarstresses are and how to calculate them
using com posites analysis.Interlam inarstresses are the source offailure m echanism s
uniquely characteristic ofcom posite m aterials;theirexistence is a m ajorreason that
lam inated com posites tend to delam inate nearfree edges,such as an edge ofa plate or
around a hole.However,there seem s to be a lotofm isunderstanding ofhow to define
interlam inarstresses and how to predictthem using finite elem entanalysis.

Interlam inar Stresses -W hatAre They?

Referring to the picture below,interlam inarstresses are the out-of-plane stresses z,xz,and
yz,defined atthe interfaces between layers in a lam inated com posite m aterial.From the
figure,itis clearthata tensile z along an interface would tend to separate the layers along
the interface,and the interlam inarshear stresses would tend to shear apartthe interface in
the corresponding directions.

(https://caeai.com /sites/default/files/com posite-analysis.jpg)

That Doesn't Sound So Bad,So W hat's the Big Deal?

There are actually two m ain com plications associated with interlam inar stresses.The firstis that
delam inations generally initiate ata free edge,so these are the criticalregions where we would like
to predictthe interlam inar stresses.Unfortunately,ithas been shown thatinterlam inar stresses are
singular atfree edges,i.e.as you approach the free edge,the interlam inar stresses tend to infinity
based on the theory ofelasticity.The second issue is thataccurate interlam inar stresses,even in
regions away from free edges,can be a challenge to predictusing finite elem entanalysis.Both of
these issues willbe addressed in this article.

The Free Edge Singularity

The free edge singularity is graphically shown in the figure below.Sim ply put,the value ofthe
interlam inarstress is typically well-behaved away from a free edge,buttends to infinity as it
nears the free edge.Thus,any prediction ofinterlam inarstresses ata free edge using finite
elem ents willbe m esh-dependent,i.e.as the m esh is refined,the value ofthe interlam inar
stress atthe free edge willcontinue to increase and is indeed unbounded.Because itis this
behaviorthatleads to delam ination,how does one address this issue? There is no globally
accepted solution,butthe m ostcom m on approaches are to characterize the nearedge
stress behavior,such as using the value som e representative distance from the edge (often
equalto a layerthickness)and com pare to testorother configurations to correlate the
behaviorusing com posites analysis.

1 of 3 6/9/17, 11:06 PM
Using Composites Analysis to Predict Interlaminar Stresses | CAE Associates https://caeai.com/resources/using-composites-analysis-predict-interlamina...

(https://caeai.com /sites/default/files/com posite-analysis2.jpg)

There are other approaches used to predictdelam ination,such as the cohesive zone m odel
and virtualcrack closure technique,butthese do notdirectly use the interlam inarstresses,
so we won'tdiscuss them in this article.

Predicting Interlam inar Stresses Using Finite Elem ent Analysis

The m ostdirectway to accurately predictinterlam inarstresses using com posites analysis is

to create a m esh of3D elem ents,with atleastone and ideally m ore than one elem ent
through the thickness ofeach layer ofthe lam inate.The interlam inar stresses can then be
extracted directly from the fullstress tensor,noting thatz,xz,and yz are allcontinuous
across the layerboundaries (the corresponding strains are notnecessarily continuous
across layerboundaries).O fcourse,form ostrealistic layered structures,this m ethod can
resultin a finite elem entanalysis m odelwith so m any elem ents thatitis nota reasonable
approach.

Anotherm ore efficientapproach,assum ing thatthe com posite structure is relatively thin,is to
use layered shellelem ents.The efficiency com es from the factthatonly one shellelem entis
required through the thickness,because shelltheory is builtinto the elem entform ulation.The
disadvantages ofthis approach include:

(1)Shelltheory assum es z is zero,so this interlam inarstress com ponentwillnotbe

calculated.

(2)Shelltheory also assum es thatthe out-of-plane shear strains are zero,i.e.xz and yz are
zero,which m eans the interlam inarshearstresses cannotbe calculated directly from the
stress-strain relationship.

There is no getting around the firstitem ,itis a consequence ofshelltheory.Butsom e finite

elem entanalysis codes getaround the second issue by using the equilibrium equations to
distinguish the interlam inar shearstresses from the in-plane stresses.Forexam ple,one can
solve forTxz using the equilibrium equation below:

(https://caeai.com /sites/default/files/com posite-analysis3.jpg)

By assum ing thatthe interlam inarstresses are zero atthe bottom ofthe shell(free surface),
this equation can be integrated through the thickness to calculate the interlam inarshear
stress on a layerby layerbasis through the entire thickness ofthe shell.This approach
actually does a pretty good job ofcalculating the interlam inarshear stresses forlayered
shells.

W hich is great,exceptwhatifthe com posite structure is notthin and cannotbe assum ed to

behave as dictated by shelltheory? In thatcase,there is another elem entform ulation
available:layered solids.

Layered solids,unfortunately,have theirown problem s.The two m ain ones are:

Unlike layered shells thatrequire only one elem entto describe the through-thickness
behavior,layered solids willoften require stacking to ensure good globaldeflection and
stiffness characterization.This com plicates the interlam inarstress calculation because the
zero stress assum ption atthe top and bottom m ay notbe clearfora com plex,curved
geom etry.

The finite elem entanalysis code is internally calculating the strain tensorin each elem ent
from the nodaldisplacem ents,and allthe strains,including the interlam inarstrains,are
assum ed continuous.O nce the m aterialproperties are applied to obtain layerstresses,the
interlam inarstress distribution through the layers is discontinuous,which is exactly opposite

2 of 3 6/9/17, 11:06 PM
Using Composites Analysis to Predict Interlaminar Stresses | CAE Associates https://caeai.com/resources/using-composites-analysis-predict-interlamina...
ofwhatitshould be.

Unfortunately,these issues lead to interlam inar stress predictions thatare generally poor.
Considera two-layerthin shellloaded in shear.The shellconsists oftwo equal-thickness
isotropic layers,one stiffer than the other.The plotbelow shows the prediction ofxz through
the two layers,with the value ofxz atthe interface containing the interlam inarshear value.A
m odelusing eightsolid elem ents through the thickness (fourelem ents through each layer),
and a m odelusing layered shellelem ents correlate reasonably well.The resultfrom a layered
solid is m uch less accurate,and the interlam inarstress prediction is particularly troubling
since itis discontinuous atthe interface.

(https://caeai.com /sites/default/files/com posite-analysis4.jpg)

Com posites Analysis Recom m endations

Ifyou wantto calculate interlam inarstresses using finite elem entanalysis,your options are:

The bestapproach is to use m ultiple solid elem ents through each layer.Unfortunately,this is
rarely practical.

Ifthe structure is thin and behaves like a shell,layered shellelem ents typically provide a
good prediction ofinterlam inarshearstresses.Note thatthe interlam inarnorm alstress is
assum ed zero.

Ifthe structure is notthin,and you cannotuse m ultiple oreven one solid elem entthrough
each layer,yourbestbetis to use layered solids to predictthe globalresponse,and then
subm odeling techniques using severalsolid elem ents through the layerthickness to obtain
accurate interlam inarstresses in the criticalregions.Alternatively,specialpostprocessing
com posites analysis tools can be used to extractthe correctstresses from the layered
solids.

And perhaps m ostim portantly,understand thatata free edge,the interlam inar stresses are
singular,and thus a com parative approach should be considered.

C ontactU s (/contact-us) Privacy Policy (/about-us/privacy-policy) Sitem ap (/sitem ap) 2017 C AE Associates Inc.Allrights reserved (/) (http://w w w .linkedin.com
/com pany
/com puter-
(https:
ai
/ded-
/plus.google.com
/b/107351817128594420045
engineering-
/107351817128594420045
associ(ht
att
es-
p:(
/ht
/wtp:
w(w
/ht
/.
wyout
tp:
ww//ube.
w
.twwiw
tcom
t.
er
face
.co
(/feed)
/posti
s)
nc.?tr
/caeai
k=com/)
caeai
pany_l
/nc)
caeai
ogo)
)

3 of 3 6/9/17, 11:06 PM