Abstract
This A failure criterion with the existence of coupling terms is employed to investigate the progressive failure in anisotropic laminated composite plates. The criterion allows interaction between fiber and matrix properties. The paper is aimed to investigate the contribution of the coupling terms. A mathematical model and computational model are presented for the analysis. The deformation of the plates is predicted based on higher order shear deformation theory. Variation of material properties through thickness is used and accommodated by a discrete layer approach. Stresses calculated are used in the present failure model to determine the first ply failure and last ply failure, by progressively reducing the stiffness of the laminas. Finally, the first ply failure and last ply failure results are used to determine the lower and upper bounds within which the true load carrying capacity lies. The numerical results obtained shows some improvement compared to other failure criteria.
