Unified Approach to the Characterization of Coupled Composite Laminates: Benchmark Configurations and Special Cases
by C. B. York, (Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, James Watt Building, Univ. of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, G12 8QQ, U.K.)
Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Vol. 23, No. 4, October 2010, pp. 219-242, (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)AS.1943-5525.0000036)
Access full text
Purchase Subscription
Permissions for Reuse 
| Document type: |
Journal Paper |
| Abstract: |
Benchmark stacking sequence configurations with up to 21 plies are presented for laminates with properties similar to conventional materials, and against which new forms of coupled laminate behavior can be assessed. The benchmark configurations include fully uncoupled extensionally isotropic laminates and fully isotropic laminates, together with a special class of uncoupled laminate, possessing matching elastic properties in both extension and bending; more commonly referred to as a quasi-homogeneous orthotropic laminate. The concept of an equivalent isotropic laminate is also introduced as a universally applicable datum, useful for characterization of ply number groupings for which no benchmark configurations exist. Most of the benchmark configurations are found to possess nonsymmetric stacking sequences, which also serves to demonstrate that stacking sequence symmetry is neither sufficient nor necessary for fully uncoupled laminate designs. Finally, dimensionless parameters are provided for each stacking sequence, from which the ABD matrix is shown to be readily derived. |
| Author Keywords: | 
| Extensionally isotropic laminates |
| Fully isotropic laminates |
| Lamination parameters |
| Polar plots |
| Stacking sequences |
| Fully uncoupled orthotropic laminates |
| Equivalent fully isotropic laminate |
| Bending stiffness parameters |
| Feasible domains |
| Closed-form buckling solutions |
|
