NUMERICAL STUDY ON PROPERTIES OF WEAK INTERLAYER OF LAMINATED COMPOSITE

With assumption of material inhomogeneity on meso level, a three-point bending beam model has been adopted to simulate crack propagation in two dimensional laminated composite and to verify the toughening mechanism of energy dissipation and crack deflection along the weak interlayer. Moreover, the effect of strength, elastic modulus and thickness of the weak interlayer on both strength and toughness of the laminated composite have also been investigated in this paper.