Study of the behavior of bi-axially loaded composite laminates

Abstract

Composite materials are increasingly used in the industry. Combining light weight and high resistance, they represent a good alternative to metals for weight saving in structures, such as airplanes. The behavior of those materials is intensively studied by researchers all over the world. Since a structure is usually submitted to complex loading, the study of the bi-axial behavior of those materials is a key issue to the understanding of damage progression of in service composite structures. Very few experiments have been done on bi-axial loading. The particular shape of the specimen and the absence of standard specimen make the task complex and the study remains open.