Investigation on effect of geometric, material and load parameters on strength of composites with cutouts

Composite applications require presence of multiple holes for mechanical fasteners or cutouts in laminates. Unlike isotropic materials, composite materials experience change in stress values due to different parameters such as geometric, material and loading parameters. The present study is devoted to primarily determine whether geometric or material parameters have dominant influence on strength of composite laminates. Computational study using ABAQUS CAE software is employed for the analyses. Results reveal that geometric parameters have much significant influence on stress concentration factor and thereby the strength of composite laminates, when compared to material parameters. An elliptical cutout is seen to have comparatively more adverse effect on strength of laminate, when compared with other cutout shapes. Further, effect of load parameters - in-plane tension, compression and shear, is also studied. However, no significant effect was evidenced in stress concentration factor due to load parameters.