Abstract
Edge delamination is one of the major factors that determines the fatigue strength of composite laminates ; it is attributed to the existence of highly intensified interlaminar stresses in the neighborhood of the free edge. In order to develop an efficient method to prevent edge delamination, the effects of the geometrical shape of the free edge on γδ stress singularity are discussed in this paper for cross-ply laminates. t is shown that the order of stress singularity can be controlled by varying the geometrical shape of the free edge and that the singularity disappears for some combinations of the angles formed by the edge surfaces of the two neighboring layers with respect to their interface. In the case of multilayer laminates, it is also possible to eliminate stress singularity completely or to reduce its order drastically at all interfaces by slanting the entire free edge at an appropriate angle.
