Mechanics of Through-Thickness Reinforced Laminates: Delamination and Dynamic Response
Abstract
Through-thickness reinforcement (stitching, z-pins, weaving) is a promising technology to develop fall-safe load bearing components for aeronautical structures and lightweight armor and combat vehicles with superior capabilities. The through-thickness reinforcement enhances the performance of laminates against delamination failure, improving impact and damage tolerance and rendering stable or even suppressing crack propagadon. The purpose of the work was to investigate basic aspects of the mechanics of through-thickness reinforced laminates. Focus has been on two problems. (1) The definition and validation of approximate mode I weight functions for orthotropic double cantilever beams. The weight functions allow the problem of large scale bridging delamination to be formulated as integral equations overcoming the limitations of beam theory approximations. (2) The formulation of a theoretical model to investigate the effectiveness of a through-thickness reinforcement in reducing the delamination-induced degradation of the dynamic properties of delaminated structures. The work performed under this contract has been published in (1-4).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA412603
Entities
People
- Giovanni Solari
- Roberta Massabò
Organizations
- University of Genoa