Abstract
Cylindrical postbuckling solutions are obtained for an arbitrarily structured laminate. The strains of the middle surface contain sinusoidal terms that are in-phase with the out- of plane deflection. Bendmg-stretching coupling significantly reduces the buckling load and enhances the postbuckling deformation. The effects may be characterized by introduc ing an equivalent bending rigidity. The postbuckling solutions for a laminate with clamped ends are applied first to a thin-film strip delamination in a base laminate subjected to uni form membrane loads and next to a mid-plane delamination in a symmetric laminate. The energy release rates at the crack tip are evaluated to determine the stability characteristics of delamination growth.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: