TMM4175 Polymer Composites

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3. STRENGTH AND FAILURE THEORIES¶

Strength is a rather ambiguous term that most often needs a prefix or qualifier. For example, the yield strength and the tensile strength of most metals are very different quantities representing very different mechanisms. Due to the inherent material variability of composites, the strength must also be considered in a statistical framwork using qualifiers such as mean and characteristic strength.

Strength of unidirectional fiber composites is commonly given by the basic strength parameters corresponding to the different types of basic loading (tensile, compression and shear) along different principal directions (longitudinal and transverse) and on different material planes.

Although the basic strength parameters are well defined in terms of the modes of loading, it is not always trivial to quantify the values due to the progressive and nonlinear behavior.

This part starts with the definition, description and discussion of the basic strength parameters and continues with the principles of failure prediction based on the basic strength parameters and commonly used failure criteria for composites.

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