Applying the virtual fields method to determine the through-thickness moduli of thick composites with a nonlinear shear response

This paper presents a method allowing the simultaneous identification of pa rameters governing an orthotropic law with a nonlinear shear response. Such laws appear for instance through the thickness of thick laminated composit es. The tested specimen is subjected to boundary conditions similar to thos e of a Iosipescu setup. The strain field in the central area is processed w ith the so-called virtual fields method, which is an application of the pri nciple of virtual work with particular virtual fields. The method is simula ted with data obtained from finite element calculations. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.