FRACTURE STATISTICS OF A COMPOSITE LAMINATE

This paper proposes a model of the behavior of a composite laminate ba sed on a micro-macro probabilistic approach. The material investigated is a T300/914 carbon-fibre/epoxy-resin composite laminate. The probab ilistic fracture criterion is derived from both experimental and numer ical studies which we may describe as: experimental tests providing a good knowledge of the different kinds of damage and their development, the study of fracture statistics of a unidirectional composite with g oon prediction of its failure stress, the formulation of a probabilist ic fracture criterion of a laminate loaded in a direction different fr om that of the fibers, the numerical simulation of transverse crack de nsity: in the middle plies of the composite laminate. (C) 1998 Publish ed by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.