Energy Release Rate Associated with Interfacial Crack Growth of Laminates Including Residual Thermal Stresses: Application of Crack Tip Element Method

Abstract

Crack tip element (CTE) method is applied to the formulation of energy release rate associated with interfacial crack growth of laminates with arbitrary layups and residual thermal stresses using the Timochenko beam model. Special attention is paid to the energy release rates of mixed mode bending (MMB) test, and mode-I and mode-II energy release rates are formulated including residual thermal stresses. The results derived are verified by the comparison to finite element analysis, and the effect of residual thermal stresses on the mode mixity of the MMB test is discussed.