Compressive Strength of Axially Loaded Composite Cylinders

Tests were performed to measure the failure loads of axially compressed glass-fiber-reinforced and graphite-fiber-reinforced composite cylinders. The data were compared with the results of a previous model, which was based on a three-dimensional stress analysis and the Tsai-Wu quadratic first-ply failure criterion. This model predicted the failure loads for glass-fiber-reinforced composites with good accuracy, but less accu rately for failure loads of graphite-epoxy composites.