Effects of interfacial damage on the global and local static response of cross-ply laminates

The problem of the implications of interfacial damage on the local and glob al static response of cross-ply laminated flat structures is addressed in t his paper. As a basic prerequisite, a third-order generalized zig-zag nonli near plate theory incorporating the effect of interfacial damage is used. T he theory rests upon a representation of the displacement field which: (i) fulfills a priori the shear traction continuity conditions at each inte rface of the laminate and the free shear traction conditions on the top and bottom external planes of the plate, (ii) satisfies the requirement of continuous displacements at the perfectly bonded interfaces, and (iii) incorporates the interfacial tangential displacement jump condition w hen slip-type interlayer imperfections are present. The theory also incorporates the geometrical nonlinearities and the thermal effects. Numerical results highlighting the effect of interfacial damage o n the static response of laminated composite plates in cylindrical bending are displayed and conclusions on their implications upon their load-carryin g capacity are outlined.