Fracture behavior of Cu-Ni laminate composites was investigated by tensile testing. It was found that as the individual layer thickness decreases from 100 to 20 nm, the resultant fracture angle of the Cu-Ni laminate changes from 72° to 50°. Cross-sectional observations reveal that the fracture of the Ni layers transforms from opening to shear mode while that of the Cu layers keeps shear mode. C...

This paper presents buckling studies made on skew plates using finite element. The effects of the skew angle, aspect ratio, length-to-thickness-ratio, fibre orientation angle, and numbers of layers in the laminate and laminate sequence on the critical buckling load factor (Kcr) of antisymmetric composite laminates have also been presented. The critical buckling load factor (Kcr) is found to inc...

This paper presents buckling studies made on skew plates using finite element. The effects of the skew angle, aspect ratio, length-to-thickness-ratio, fibre orientation angle, and numbers of layers in the laminate and laminate sequence on the critical buckling load factor (Kcr) of antisymmetric composite laminates have also been presented. The critical buckling load factor (Kcr) is found to inc...

This paper presents buckling studies made on skew plates using finite element. The effects of the skew angle, aspect ratio, length-to-thickness-ratio, fibre orientation angle, and numbers of layers in the laminate and laminate sequence on the critical buckling load factor (Kcr) of antisymmetric composite laminates have also been presented. The critical buckling load factor (Kcr) is found to inc...

This paper presents the first conceptual study into creating a Plantae-inspired vascular network within a fibre-reinforced polymer composite laminate, which provides an ongoing self-healing functionality without incurring a mass penalty. Through the application of a 'lost-wax' technique, orthogonal hollow vascules, inspired by the 'ray cell' structures found in ring porous hardwoods, were succe...

The mechanical problem discussed in this paper focuses on the stress state estimation in a composite laminate in the vicinity of a free edge or microcracks. To calculate these stresses, we use two models called Multiparticle Models of Multilayered Materials (M4). The first one can be considered as a stacking sequence of Reissner-Mindlin plates (5 kinematic fields per layer), while the second is...

A finite element model based on the layerwise theory is developed for the analysis of transverse cracking in cross-ply laminated beams. The numerical model is developed using the layerwise theory of Reddy, and the von Kármán type nonlinear strain field is adopted to accommodate the moderately large rotations of the beam. The finite element beam model is verified by comparing the present numeric...

The coupling effects between the mechanical and electric properties of piezoelectric materials have drawn significant attention for their potential applications as sensors and actuators. In this investigation, two piezoelectric actuators are symmetrically surface bonded on a cross-ply composite laminate. Electric voltages with the same amplitude and opposite sign are applied to the two symmetri...

The use of functional repair components stored inside hollow reinforcing fibres is being considered as a self-repair system for future composite structures. The incorporation of a self-healing capability within a variety of materials, including fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs), has been investigated by a number of workers previously. This paper considers the placement of self-healing plies with...