Singularity of Contact-Edge Stress in Laminated Composites Under Uniform Extension

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Abstract
The unusually large and possibly infinite stress at the contact-edge is one of the factors responsible for delamination when the composite is subjected to ex ternal loading. Since more composites are now used in space vehicles, it is im portant to analyze the nature of the stress singularities at the contact-edge so that special attention can be paid to the design of mechanical fastenings and joints. In this paper we study the stress singularities at the contact-edge of an in terface between two adjacent layers in a laminated composite. Each layer of the composite is assumed to be of the same orthotropic material with one of the principal axes being the fiber direction. However, the angle θ which is the fiber orientation, varies from layer to layer. The composite is subjected to uniform extension in the plane of the layers. It is shown that a singularity of the type krδ (δ<0) may exist, but that it depends on the stacking sequence of the layers and the complete boundary conditions.

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