The effect of ply thickness on unnotched and notched strength of fiber-dominated laminates is investigated. Experiments are conducted to examine the effect of subcritical damage on fracture toughness of AS4/3501-6 graphite/epoxy laminates with cross-ply and quasi-isotropic configurations. It is observed that ply thickness has a significant effect on the notched behavior of cross-ply laminates but less so for quasi-isotropic laminates. The experimentally observed crack-tip damage in the form of axial splitting in the 0-deg plies and delamination is modeled by a two-dimensional finite element analysis using Mindlin plates, and the criterion that controls damage (split) growth is established. The role of such damage on crack-tip stress distribution is investigated, and inferences are drawn to determine the circumstances under which a fracture mechanics type of failure model can be used to predict the notched response of these laminates.
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Vaidya et al. (1998) studied this question.
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