Interfacial Delamination of a Layered Composite Under Anti-Plane Strain

Abstract

The debonding failure of a laminar composite is modeled by the problem of a number of bonded layers of different materials con taining a finite crack along one interface. The proposed model con sists of two inner layers of finite height and two outer layers of in finite height whose elastic properties are the averages over a large number of layers of the actual laminate. The problem is formulated with each layer of a different material under anti-plane shear and solved by the method of integral transform. Special emphases are placed on the evaluation of a local stress parameter which is indica tive of the force required to delaminate the layered composite weakened by an interface crack. Numerical results for a four-layered composite the elastic properties of which alternate from layer to layer reveal the variation of the amplitude of the local stress field with ratios of shear module, μ1/μ2and layer thickness to half crack length, h/a. The special case of a cracked layer sandwiched between two elastic half-planes of another material is also discussed.