Predicting the crushing stress of composite materials

Abstract

A simple mathematical model for predicting the crushing stress of the composite materials is presented in this report. The present knowledge of fracture mechanics and strength of materials are used as a basis for the modeling process. The fracture mechanics part of analysis was based on the energy release rate approach. The energy release rate (G) of the proposed model was determined by this approach. This energy release rate was based on the Mode 1 (opening or tensile mode) failure. As for the strength of materials part of analysis, buckling theory was used to determine the critical load of the fibre beams. These two engineering concepts were combined to form the equation for the proposed model. The derived equation should be a function of the materials properties, geometric and physical parameters of the composite materials. The calculated stresses from the derived equation were compared with experimental data from technical and research papers. Good agreements shown in the results are encouraging and recommendations for future analysis with different modes of failure were also presented.