The purpose of this study is to investigate the free edge delamination of the laminated composites under uniaxial strain. The laminate is modeled as a set of anisotropic layers with isotropic adhesive layers.
Interlaminar stresses are calculated for laminate with various laminate parameters by using two dimensional finite difference method. It is interesting to note the fact that the magnitude and sign (tensile or compressive) of interlaminar normal stress at the free edge can be changed for the different material properties under the same stacking sequence, configuration and boundary condition.
The relation between delamination and first plyfailure is considered by applying failure theories to anisotropic layers and isotropic adhesive layers. From the results of this we can conclude that delamination can not penetrate the entire width of the laminate under the static loading condition.
