Interlaminar Stress Analysis in Composite Laminates
Summary
Composite laminates are engineered structures composed of stacked plies whose directional properties yield exceptional strength-to-weight performance. Interlaminar stress analysis seeks to quantify the normal and shear stresses that develop between adjacent layers under mechanical, thermal or electro-mechanical loadings. These through-thickness stresses are strongly influenced by ply stacking sequence, material anisotropy and geometric discontinuities such as free edges, cut-outs and stiffener attachments. High interlaminar stress gradients can initiate delamination, compromising both load-bearing capacity and fatigue life. Analytical techniques range from classical laminate plate theory, which treats the laminate as an equivalent single plate, to higher-order and layerwise formulations that resolve full three-dimensional fields. Recent advances have introduced semi-analytical schemes, multi-physics coupling models and efficient hybrid approaches capable of capturing critical stress concentrations in applications from aerospace fuselages to smart sensor-integrated composites. Balancing computational efficiency with accuracy remains central to the optimisation and damage-tolerant design of next-generation composite structures.
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Interlaminar Stress Analysis in Composite Laminates publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in interlaminar stress analysis in composite laminates across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Interlaminar stress: Normal and shear stresses acting between adjacent plies in a laminate, critical for assessing delamination risk.
Free-edge effect: Localised stress concentration at laminate boundaries arising from mismatched in-plane and transverse deformations.
Layerwise formulation: Modelling approach that treats each lamina individually to resolve full three-dimensional stress distributions through the thickness.
Classical laminate plate theory (CLPT): Simplified theory that represents a multilayered composite by equivalent mid-plane kinematics, neglecting transverse shear deformation.
Thermo-electro-mechanical coupling: Interaction of thermal, electrical and mechanical loadings in multi-functional composites, influencing interlaminar stress states.
References
- Stress fields at skin-stringer junctions in composite aircraft fuselages. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences (2024).
- A particular manner to observe free-edge effects in hybrid elastomer/composites plates. Composites Part C Open Access (2023).
- Series Solution-Based Approach for the Interlaminar Stress Analysis of Smart Composites under Thermo-Electro-Mechanical Loading. Mathematics (2022).
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