Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Free-edge and ply cracking eect in cross-ply laminated

composites under uniform extension and thermal loading
Daxu Zhang a, Jianqiao Ye
b

a,b,*

, Hong Yu Sheng

a
School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Institute of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, PR China

Available online 8 June 2005

Abstract
The interlaminar stresses and displacements near the free-edges and ply cracks are investigated by using the state space equation
method for general cross-ply laminates subjected to extension and/or thermal loading. By this approach, a laminated plate may
be composed of an arbitrary number of orthotropic layers, each of which may have dierent material properties and thickness.
The method takes into account all independent material constants and guarantees continuous elds of all interlaminar stresses
across interfaces between material layers. Numerical solutions are compared with results obtained from other methods. It is found
that the theory provides a satisfactory approximation to the stress singularity occurring in the vicinity of the free-edges and ply
cracks.
 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Free-edge; Ply cracking; Laminate; State space; Interlaminar stress; Thermal loading

1. Introduction
It is a well-established fact that free-edge and internal
delaminations as well as transverse ply cracking in laminated composites are the most commonly observed
types of damage and that delaminations typically initiate from transverse matrix cracks [1]. This damage results from the interlaminar stresses at free-edge and
ply cracking due to the mismatch of material properties
between plies. Thus in these regions near free-edge and
ply cracking, it has been recognized that the stress state
is three-dimensional in nature and not predictable accurately by the classical lamination theory (CLT) [2,3]. In
the last few decades, numerous investigators have used a
variety of methods to attempt to calculate the interlaminar stresses in the vicinity of free-edge and ply cracks.
These include analytical, numerical, and semi-analytical
*

Corresponding author. Fax: +44 0 113 2332265.

E-mail address: j.ye@leeds.ac.uk (J. Ye).

0263-8223/$ - see front matter  2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2005.04.021

methods. A complete review of various theories can be

found in Refs. [46].
The rst analytical method dealing with anisotropic
materials was proposed by Puppo and Evensen [7] to
evaluate interlaminar shear of anisotropic layers separated by isotropic shear layers with interlaminar normal
stress being neglected throughout the laminate. Pagano
[8] used the higher-order plate theory to examine the
problem. Other analytical methods include the perturbation method by Hsu and Herakovich [9], the boundary
layer theory by Tang [10], Davet and Destuynder [11]
and Ko and Lin [12], approximate elasticity solutions
by Pipes and Pagano [13], Reissners variational principle by Pagano [1,14], Lekhnitskiis [15] stress potential
by Wang and Choi [1619], Kassapoglou and Lagace
[20,21] method by Ko and Lin [12] and Webber and
Mortan [22]. Becker [23] developed a particular warp
deformation mode that is induced by the free-edge eect
and decays rapidly towards the laminate interior. Kim
and Atluri [24] proposed an approximate method based

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

on equilibrated stress representations and used the principle of minimum complimentary energy to investigate
the interlaminar stresses near straight free-edges of
beam-type laminated composite structures under outof-plane shear/bending. Using the extended Kantorovich method by Kerr [25] and the complementary minimum energy principle to predict the stress functions, the
interlaminar stresses at the free-edges in composite laminates were estimated by Cho and Yoon [26]. Using the
full layerwise theory [27], Tahani and Nosier [2830]
investigated the interlaminar stresses near the free-edges
of general cross-ply composite laminates under uniform
axial extension, thermal loading, and bi-directional
bending. On the basis of the theory of three-dimensional
elasticity, Ye and Sheng [31] extended the state space
method, which has been successfully used in analyses
of laminates subjected to various load and boundary
conditions [3235], to solve free-edge stresses in crossply laminated cylinders subjected to axisymmetrically
distributed transverse loads.
Finite dierence methods and nite element analysis
are very popular numerical techniques. In 1970 Pipes
and Pagano [36] developed the rst complete 3D analysis of interlaminar stresses by applying nite dierence
techniques to the governing elasticity equation. Later
Salamon [37], Altus et al. [38] and Bhaskar et al. [39]
also employed this method to solve free-edge problems.
The nite dierence method was followed quickly by nite element solutions, utilized by Rybicki [40], Isakson
and Levy [41], Herakovich et al. [42], Wang and Crossman [43], Kim and Hong [44], Icardi and Bertetto [45],
Lessard et al. [46], Yi and Hilton [47], Gaudenzi et al.
[48], and Lindemann and Becker [49].
Although nite element method is probably one of
the most universal methods that can be applied to problems involving any cross section and lamination prole,
it is sometimes quite computational expensive and even
unreliable for free-edge analysis of multi-layered laminates [31]. Consequently, some semi-analytical approaches were proposed combining the traditional
nite element method with a certain analytical technique. Dong and Goetshel [50] used a semi-analytical
model, combining the nite element interpolations over
the thickness with exponential decay into the plates
interior, to investigate the behaviour of a laminate plate
composed of an arbitrary number of bonded, elastic,
anisotropic layers. A state space nite element method
that combines the traditional nite element approximation and the recursive formulation of state space equation [31,51] is proposed to solve the stress singularities
in the vicinity of free-edges or localized traction free surfaces by Ye et al. [52].
Relatively less attention has been addressed to the
analysis of interlaminar stresses in unsymmetric laminates. For most designs of composite laminates,
symmetric layup about the middle-plane are often

315

desirable in order to avoid the coupling eects between

bending and extension. However, many practical applications require unsymmetric laminates to specically
achieve the design requirements [28]. Also little work
has been done on the thermal stress problem associated
with residual stresses resulting from manufacture at high
temperature, although interlaminar thermal stresses
may be more signicant than the stresses due to mechanical loading. In this paper, the state space method is used
to analyse free-edge and ply cracking eect on general
cross-ply laminates subjected to uniform axial extension
and/or thermal loading. The method is considered an
ecient and accurate approach to analyse laminated
structures because the dimension of nal state equation
does not depend on the number of the layers and the
stress and displacement elds are all three-dimensional
and all independent material constants are fully taken
into account. The method also guarantees continuous
elds of all interlaminar stresses across interfaces between material layers. A comprehensive account of the
method can be found in Ref. [35]. Unlike most analytical
methods that are restricted to the analysis of either freeedge or ply cracking problem, the present method removes such restriction by appropriately describing the
boundary conditions.

2. State space method formulation

2.1. A single-layered plate
2.1.1. Description of the problem
Consider a single-layered plate with constant thickness h, width L and innite length in the Cartesian
xyz coordinate system (Fig. 1). The displacements in
the x, y and z directions are denoted by u, v and w,
respectively. Suppose that the plate is subjected to a uniaxial tension by the application of a constant longitudinal strain in the y direction, eyy and a uniform
temperature variation, DT. The plate is made of a linearly elastic orthotropic material whose material axes of

yy
L

h
z,w
y,v

x,u

yy
Fig. 1. Nomenclature of a single-layered plate.

316

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

orthotropy coincide with the axes of the adopted coordinate system.

2.1.2. Formulation
(a) Stressstrain relations
The basic constitutive equation for thermo-elastic
stress analysis is given by Herakovich [53]:
 
1
frg C feg  eT .
Here, the matrices [C], {e} and {eT} are stiness matrix, mechanical strains and thermal strains, respectively. The thermal strains {eT} that are proportional
to temperature change DT in the material principal
coordinates are as follows:
 T
e fagDT .
2
For a homogeneous, orthotropic material the directionally dependent coecients of thermal expansion for
three-dimensional problems can be expressed in matrix
form as:
fag ax

ay

az

0 T ;

where ax, ay and az denote the coecients of thermal

expansion relative to the x, y and z directions. As for
a linearly elastic orthotropic material, the following
equation exists:
9 2
3
8
rxx >
C 11 C 12 C 13
0
0
0
>
>
>
>
>
7
> 6
>
>
6 C 12 C 22 C 23
>
>
ryy >
0
0
0 7
>
>
>
>
7
6
> 6
>
>
>
7
>
= 6 C 13 C 23 C 33
< rzz >
0
0
0 7
7
6
6
7
>
>
6
ryz >
0
0
0 C 44
0
0 7
>
>
>
7
6
> 6
>
>
>
7
>
>
>
>
6
r
>
>
0
0
0
0 C 55
0 7
xz >
>
5
4
>
>
>
>
;
:
rxy
0
0
0
0
0 C 66
9
8
exx  ax DT >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
e

a
DT
>
>
yy
y
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
< ezz  az DT >
;
4

>
>
eyz
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
exz
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
:
exy
where the Cij are stiness coecients that can be expressed in terms of elastic moduli and Poissons ratios.
(b) Equilibrium equations
8
orxx orxy orxz
>
>
> ox oy oz 0;
>
>
>
>
>
< or
oryy oryz
xy

0;
5
>
ox
oy
oz
>
>
>
>
>
>
> orxz oryz orzz 0.
:
ox
oy
oz

(c) Straindisplacement relations

exx ou
;
ox

ov
eyy oy
;

ezz ow
;
oz

ov
ov
; exz ou
ow
; exy ou
ox
.
eyz ow
oy
oz
oz
ox
oy

Considering that the plate is subjected to a uniform

extension in the y direction, it follows that
eyy

ov
e0 constant;
oy

exy

ou ov
0.
oy ox

eyz

ow ov
0;
oy oz
7

As a result, we can conclude from Eqs. (4), (6) and (7)

that ryz = rxy = 0 and the other six variables u, w, rxz,
rzz, rxx and ryy are all independent of y. The stress analysis is then restricted to a generalized plane strain
problem.
To facilitate the following deduction process, let
a o=ox;

C 1 C 13 =C 33 ;

C 2 C 11  C 213 =C 33 ;

C 3 C 12  C 13 C 23 =C 33 ;
C 4 C 22  C 223 =C 33 ;
C 7 1=C 33 ;

C 5 C 23 =C 33 ;

C 8 1=C 55 .
8

From the third equation of Eqs. (4) and (6), the following relation is obtained:
ow
C 1 au C 7 rzz C 5 e0  C 1 ax C 5 ay  az DT .
oz
9
Substituting Eq. (9) into the rst equation of Eq. (4)
yields:
rxx C 2 au  C 1 rzz C 3 eo  C 2 ax C 3 ay DT .

10

Inserting Eq. (10) into the rst and third equations of

Eq. (5) and considering Eq. (9) as well as the fth equation of Eq. (4), we can obtain the following rst order
non-homogenous partial dierential equation system:
3
2
0
a C 8 0
8 9
8 9
u >
u > 6
>
7>
>
>
>
>
C
a
0
0
C
>
>
>
>
7
6
1
7
=
<
<
7 w =
6
o w
2
7
6
6 C 2 a 0
0
C1a 7
oz >
rxz >
>
>
>
> rxz >
7>
6
>
>
0
a 0 5>
;
: ; 40
: >
rzz
rzz

8
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
:

0
C 5 e0  C 1 ax C 5 ay  az DT
0
0

9
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
;

11

Assuming that the axial displacement u can be expressed as:



2x
ux; z ux; z U 0 z 1 
;
12
L

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

where 
ux; z and U(0)(z) are two unknown displacement
functions that can be determined by imposing traction
free conditions along free-edges and this will be discussed in the next section.
Introducing Eq. (12) into (11) yields
o
fFg GfFg fBg;
oz

13a

h
0
2
fBm zg  mp
1 cos mp dU dz z



dU 0 z
2x
1
;C 5 e0 C 1 ax C 5 ay  az DT
fBg 
dz
L
T
2C 1 0

U z;0;0 ;
13b
L
T
13c
u w rxz rzz 
fFg 
and [G] is the 4 4 matrix shown in Eq. (11). For the
displacements and stresses in {F}, the following Fourier
series expansions are assumed:
9
8 9
8 

u >
U m z sinnx >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
= X
=
< w >
< W m z cosnx >
1 >

;
14
>
> X m z sinnx >
rxz >
>
>
>
m0 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
;
: >
:
rzz
Z m z cosnx
where n = mp/L, L is the length of the plate in the x
direction. In the case of a uniformly distributed extension and thermal loading, the axial displacement u is
zero at x = L/2. Hence, the integer m in Eq. (14) takes
only even numbers, i.e. m = 0, 2, 4, . . .
Substituting Eq. (14) into Eq. (13a) and expanding
also the x coordinate in vector {B} into a Fourier series,
as follows:
1
2L X
cos mp
mpx
x
sin
15
p m0 m
L
one has the following non-homogenous state space
equation for an arbitrary value of m
d
fFm zg GfFm zg fBm zg;
dz

W m z
C8
0
0

X m z Z m z
3

iT

;
16e

The solution of Eq. (16a) can easily be found as [35]

Z z
eGzs fBm sg ds
fFm zg eGz fFm 0g
0

z 2 0; h.

17

In particular, at z = h,
fFm hg Dm hfFm 0g fHm hg;

18

where [Dm(h)] is called transfer matrix that can be calculated either analytically or numerically. The calculation
of the two constant matrices, [Dm(h)] and {Hm(h)}, in
Eq. (18) can be found from [35].
2.2. A cross-ply laminated composite plate
2.2.1. Description of the problem
Consider a simple composite plate of thickness h,
width L, innite length and number of plies n (Fig. 2).
Again the plate is subjected to a uniaxial tension by
application of a constant longitudinal strain, eyy, and a
uniform temperature variation, DT. The composite plate
is made up of 0 and 90 plies that are assumed to be
orthotropic and linearly elastic.
2.2.2. Formulation
For a thick homogeneous or laminated plate, we may
imagine that it is composed of N ctitious sub-layers,
each of which may have dierent thickness. However,
it is assumed that the thickness of all the ctitious sublayers approach zero uniformly as N approaches innity. Assuming, in addition, that dierent sub-layers

Interface

Free edge

16a

yy
L

7
C7 7
7
7;
C 1 n 7
5

16b

Free edge
Fiber
Orientation

0 or 90

z,w

16c

x,u

y,v

zz

yy

0
0 n
0

fB0 zg 0; C 5 e0  C 1 ax C 5 ay  az DT :
2C 1 0
U z; 0; 0

L

m 2; 4; . . ..

where
 m z
fFm zg U
2
0
n
6
6 C1n 0
6
G 6
6 C 2 n2 0
4

Dm zfFm 0g fHm zg

where

317

xz

yz

yy

xx
xy

T
;

16d

Fig. 2. Nomenclature of a cross-ply laminated composite plate with

free edge.

318

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

may be composed of dierent orthotropic materials, two

types of materials interfaces are distinguished in the
plate; the ctitious interfaces which separate sub-layers
with the same material properties and the real ones that
separate sub-layers composed of dierent materials.
Upon choosing a suitably large value of N, each individual sub-layer becomes thin plate and, as a result, Eqs.
(16)(18) are considered to be adequate for the solutions
of these thin coaxial plates. The state space equation and
the form of solution of an arbitrary sub-layer, e.g., the
jth one whose thickness is hj, can easily be obtained by
replacing h with hj in Eqs. (16)(18). The state space
equation of the jth sub-layer then becomes:
d
fFm zgj Gj fFm zgj fBm zgj .
dz

19

After repeating the above process for all individual sublayers and with appropriate continuity requirements imposed at all the real and ctitious interfaces, a solution
for the entire laminate can be formulated. Also, the solution can be found to the required accuracy by increasing
the total number of the thin layers, subjected to satisfy
boundary conditions.
In order to nd the solution of the problem, we must
solve rst the unknown displacement function, U(0)(z),
appearing in Eq. (16). If the ctitious sub-layers of the
laminate are all suciently thin, it is reasonable to assume that the displacement U(0)(z) within the thin layer
is linearly distributed in the z direction, i.e.
0

U j z U 
j 1 

z
z
U
j
hj
hj

z 2 0; hj ;

j 1; 2; . . . ; N ;

20
0

where U 
j and U j are the values of U j z at the upper
and bottom surfaces of the jth thin layer. Inserting Eq.
(20) into Eqs. (16d) and (16e), vector {Bm(z)}j in Eq.
(19) can be expressed as

fB0 zgj 0; C 5 e0  C 1 ax C 5 ay  az DT

2C 1
L


T
z
z
U
;
0;
0
1


U
; z 2 0; hj ;
j
j
hj
hj
21

fBm zgj


4 U j U j
mp
hj

0 0 0

iT

; m 2; 4; .. ..

22

Fm hj


j





Dm hj j fFm 0gj Hm hj j .

where


m
D

!
1
Y


Dm hj j ;
jN

m
H

2
Y

!
Dm j fHm g1

jN

23

By introducing the following continuity conditions at

all interfaces, i.e.,


24
fFm 0gj1 Fm hj j ;

25b
3
Y

!
Dm j

jN

 fH m g2    fH m gN .

25c

{Fm(hN)}N and {Fm(0)}1 are, respectively, the state vectors at the upper and bottom surfaces of the laminated
plate. Upon using the traction free conditions at the
upper and bottom surfaces, the following stress conditions are obtained:
X m hN ; Z m hN TN 0; 0T ; X m 0; Z m 0T1 0; 0T :
26
Substituting Eq. (26) into Eq. (25) yields the following linear algebra equation system:


 
m 
 32 
U
D31 D
H m3

;
27
 41 D
 42
 m4
D
H
Wm 1

 m and
 mi are the relevant elements in D
 ij and H
where D

fHm g, respectively. Eq. (27) is a set of linear algebra
equations in terms of the two displacement components,
 m and Wm, at the upper surface. The free terms of Eq.
U
 m3 and H
 m4 , contain 2 N unknown constants,
(27), H

U
and
U
j
1; 2; . . . ; N , introduced in Eq. (20).
j
j
These constants are determined by introducing boundary conditions along the edges of the laminate. In particular, Eq. (27) is satised automatically when m = 0.

3. Boundary conditions and solution

3.1. Free-edge
A typical composite laminate with free-edges is
shown in Fig. 2. The free-edge conditions at x = 0, L
are as follows:
rxz rxy rxx 0.

The solution of Eq. (19) at z = hj is



and then using Eqs. (23) and (24) recursively, a relationship between the state vectors on the upper and bottom
surfaces of the plate is established as follows:

 
 m fFm 0g H
m ;
25a
fFm hN gN D
1
N

28

It can be seen from Eqs. (7) and (14) that

rxz = rxy = 0 are satised automatically along the freeedges (x = 0, L). The remaining boundary condition to
be satised at the free edges is rxx = 0. In order to impose the condition at the two free-edges, we introduce
Eq. (12) into Eq. (10). As a result, the normal stress in
the x direction is expressed as follows:

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

2U 0
.
L
29
0

After substituting Eq. (14) into Eq. (29), we obtain

for the jth sub-layer
X
 m z  C 1 Z m z cos nx
rxx
C 2 nU
j
m


2C 2 0
U z .
C 3 e0  C 2 ax C 3 ay DT j 
L
j


90

rxx C 2 a
u  C 1 rzz C 3 e0  C 2 ax C 3 ay DT  C 2

319

0
L

Crack

Fig. 3. Schematic of a [0/90/0] laminate with an array of transverse

ply cracks.

30



2C 2 0
U z 0.

L
j

Crack

surface
u0

u0
L

31

It has been mentioned in the previous section that Eq.

(27) contains unknown constants U 
and U
j
j j
1; 2; . . . ; N . To solve for the constants, we rst consider
the continuity of U(0)(z) at the interface between the jth
and the (j + 1)th sub-layers. From Eq. (20), the following relationship is obtained

U
j U j1 j 1; 2; . . . ; N  1.

x
u0

u0

Due to symmetry, we only need to impose the condition at x = 0. Thus, from Eq. (30), we obtain the following condition:
X


 m z  C 1 Z m z C 3 e0  C 2 ax C 3 ay DT
C 2 nU
j
j

32

Hence, there exist only (N + 1) independent unknown

constants. In order to solve these constants and also the
two displacement components of the upper surface (see
Eq. (27)), the traction free condition Eq. (31) must be
satised at the edges of all interfaces, including the ctitious and material interfaces. This can be done by introducing z-coordinates of the interfaces, zj, into Eq. (31).
This process yields (N + 1) independent linear algebra
equations. Along with the two equations from Eq.
(27), the two displacement components and the (N + 1)
unknown constants can nally be solved. Once the equation system is solved, all the displacements and stresses
can be obtained by substituting the solutions to the state
space equations shown in previous sections.
3.2. Ply cracking

Fig. 4. A representative element.

Fig. 4 shows the cross section of a representative element taken from Fig. 3. In order to use the recursive formulations the representative element is further divided
into N ctitious sub-layers. Again, each sub-layer may
have dierent thickness and dierent sub-layers may
be composed of dierent orthotropic materials. In Fig.
4 a global rectangular Cartesian coordinate system x
yz is chosen for the element.
For cracked layers at x = 0, L the crack surfaces in
the crack plane are traction free, i.e.
rxz rxy rxx 0.

33

From Eqs. (33) and (28), it is seen that the boundary

conditions of ply cracks are the same as those of freeedge, as a result Eq. (31) can be used directly to satisfy
the crack surface condition. Because all the displacements are independent of the y coordinate, Eq. (7) can
be expressed as
eyy

ov
e0 0.
oy

34

Then the boundary condition Eq. (31) becomes

X


 m z  C 1 Z m z C 2 ax C 3 ay DT
C 2 nU
j
j
m

When a cross-ply laminate is subjected to a uniform

extension r0 or thermal loading DT, transverse ply cracks
appear parallel to the bers and cross the entire width
from edge to edge. For example the cross-ply laminate
shown in Fig. 3 displays an orthogonal array of periodic
cracks that appear in 90 layers. Assuming that the distribution of the cracks is equally spaced, a representative
element (see Fig. 4) in two neighbouring cracks can be
taken out to predict the stress and displacement elds.

2C 2 0
U z

a


0.

35

Due to the laminate is subjected to a uniform extension and thermal loading, for uncracked layers at x = 0,
L the longitude displacement of an arbitrary jth layer in
x direction remains constant, that is
uj u 0 .

36

320

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

Because the element is symmetry, we only consider

the boundary condition at x = 0. Substituting x = 0 into
Eq. (12) and the rst equation of Eq. (14) yields
uj 0; z U 0 z u0 .

stants can nally be solved. All the displacements and

stresses can be obtained by substituting the solutions
to the Eqs. (23) and (24).

37
4. Numerical examples and discussion

From the equilibrium of the internal and external

forces, we have
Z
rxx dz r0 h.
38

4.1. Free-edge eect

4.1.1. Convergence study
To study the convergence of the stresses near freeedges, one simple laminate [0/90]s subjected to a uniform constant axial strain e0 is considered. The following elastic stinesses are assumed:

Assume that the cracked ply contains Nc ctitious

sub-layers. In the uncracked layers, there is only one unknown constant u0. In addition to the (Nc  1) unknown
constants in the cracked ply, there exists Nc independent
unknown constants in Eq. (27), where Nc denotes the
number of sub-layers in the cracked layer. In order to
solve these constants and also the two displacement
components of the upper surface (see Eq. (27)), where
the traction free condition Eq. (35) must be satised at
the edges of the (Nc  1) interfaces. This process yields
(Nc  1) independent linear algebra equations. Along
with Eq. (38) and the two equations from Eq. (27), the
two displacement components and the Nc unknown con-

C 11 C 33 15300 N=mm2 ;
C 44 C 55 5900 N=mm2 ;
C 12 C 23 3900 N=mm2 ;

0.5

The laminate has a width L, and thickness h, where

L = 10h. Also all material layers have equal thickness
h/4 and are idealized as homogeneous orthotropic layers. In order to obtain an accurate result near the free-

2500

zz / 0

1.5
2000

-400
n = 24
n = 32

-800

xz / 0

C 13 3300 N=mm2 .
39

x/h

C 22 140000 N=mm2 ;

( N / mm 2 )

n = 24

1500

n = 32

1000

n = 40

500
x/h

n = 40
0

( N / mm 2)

0.5

1.5

-500

-1200

Fig. 5. Convergence of interlaminar stresses at 0/90 interface with m = 400.

x/h
2500

0
0

0.5

-200

2000

-400

m = 400
m = 600

-1400

m = 200
m = 400

m = 200

-800

-1200

( N / mm )

1500

-600

-1000

zz / 0

1.5

m = 600

1000
500

x/h

xz / 0

0
2

( N / mm )

0.5

-500

Fig. 6. Convergence of interlaminar stresses at 0/90 interface with n = 40.

1.5

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

edge, the number of terms m included in the series

expansion (see Eq. (14)) and the number of layer renement n must be taken suciently large.
Figs. 5 and 6 show the convergence of the numerical
values of rxz and rzz at the 0/90 interface against different n with m = 400 and dierent m with n = 40,
respectively. It is seen that the rxz is noticeably dependent on n and m. It can also be seen that the convergence
of rzz is quicker than rxz. Even for the shear stress rxz,
the dierence between m = 400 and m = 600 is not significant. In the following studies, therefore, results are obtained by taking m = 400 and n = 40.
4.1.2. Uniform axial extension
Using the material property shown in Section 4.1.1,
numerical examples are presented here for symmetric
and unsymmetrical cross-ply laminates subjected a uniform axial extension e0. The graphic solutions are also
compared with those obtained by Ye et al. [52] and
Wang et al. [54].
From Fig. 7 it is seen that the interlaminar shear
stress rxz rises toward the free-edge but decreases rather
sharply to zero at x = 0. This is often attributed to a possible singularity at the 0/90 interface. It is evident from
the curves that rzz exhibits singular behaviour at the
free-edge and the plane stress assumption used in the
classical laminate theory (CLT) is no more valid here.
However, the interlaminar stresses approach to zero
after x > 1.5h. This illuminates that the interlaminar
stress disturbance occurs only near the free-edge. These
results agree well with those of Ye et al. [52] and Wang
et al. [54], while signicant dierences are observed for
rxz in the region very close to the free-edge. It is worth
mentioning that Wangs results do not satisfy the traction free conditions at x = 0.
The through thickness distributions of rzz at the freeedge of [0/90]s and [0/90/0/90] laminates are shown
in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively. The two gures demonstrate the inuence of stacking sequence on the interlam-

x/h

0
200

0.5

600
800

present

1000

Ye et al.

1400

1000

2000

3000

0.25

0.5

0.75
z/h
1

Fig. 8. Through the thickness distribution of interlaminar normal

stress in a [0/90]s laminate under uniform axial strain.

3000 2000 1000

0

1000

2000 3000 4000

zz / 0 ( N / mm 2 )
0.25

0.5

0.75
z/h
1

Fig. 9. Through the thickness distribution of interlaminar normal

stress in a [0/90/0/90] laminate under axial strain.

inar normal stress. The singular behaviour at the

intersection of the interface and the free-edge is evident
in both gures in the form of stress concentrations and
steep gradients. Although the interlaminar normal stress
is tensile at the interface in both gures, the maximum
interlaminar normal stress of [0/90/0/90] laminate is
larger than that of [0/90]s.

2500

zz / 0

1.5

( N / mm )

1500

present

1000

Ye et al.
Wang et al.

500
x/h

xz / 0

Wang et al.

0
0

( N / mm )

4000

zz / 0 (N / mm2 )

2000

400

1200

1000
0

321

0.5

1.5

500

Fig. 7. Distribution of interlaminar stresses at the 0/90 interface in [0/90]s laminate under uniform axial strain.

322

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

4.1.3. Uniform thermal loading

To apply the state space method to solve free-edge
problems under thermal loading and compare with the
results of other investigators, laminates under a uniform
temperature increment DT and with the ply congurations [90/0]s and [90 3 =0 ] are considered. The following elastic and thermal expansion coecients are
assumed:
EL 137.9 GPa
mLT 0.21

ET 14.48 GPa

mTT 0.21

1
z/h

0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3

zz T

0.2

GLT 5.86 GPa

0.1

aL 0.36  106 = C

( C N / mm2 )

0
-0.5

aT 28.8  106 = C.
40
The geometry of the laminate is assumed to have the
width L, and thickness h, with L = 4h. Also each of the
material layers is of equal thickness h/4 and idealized as
a homogeneous orthotropic material.
The variations of interlaminar stresses rxz and rzz at
the 90/0 interface of [90/0]s laminates are displayed
in Fig. 10. Except for the region very close to the freeedge, the present results of rxz agree well with those of
Tahani and Nosier [29]. It is to be noted that although
Tahani and Nosiers results may be improved by
increasing the number of sub-layers in each lamina,
the numerical value of rxz cannot satisfy the traction
free conditions along x = 0. The variation of interlaminar normal stress rzz through the thickness of 903 =0 
laminate is shown in Fig. 11. It can be seen that the steep
gradients occur near the 90/0 interface and the value of
transverse normal stress rzz diminishes to zero at both
top and bottom surfaces of the laminate.

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0.1

0.2

0.3

Fig. 11. Distribution of interlaminar normal stress through the

thickness in a [903 =0 ] laminate due to a temperature change.

extension and thermal loading. A two-dimensional analytical mode has been established by McCartney and
Pierse [55] to calculate stress transfer in such a cracked
laminate. As a part of validation of the present method,
the interfacial shear and normal stresses at the interface
between 0 ply and 90 ply of a four ply ([0/90]s)
graphite/epoxy laminate are calculated and compared
with the results obtained using McCartney and Pierses
[55] solution. The laminate is subjected to a uniaxial
average stress of r = 0.2 GPa, and a uniform thermal
load of DT = 120. The material properties used in
the calculations for the graphite/epoxy laminates [56]
are as follows
EL 144.78 GPa
mLT 0.31

ET 9.58 GPa

mTT 0.55

GLT 4.785 GPa



aL 0.72  106 = C

aT 27  106 = C.
41

5. Ply cracking eect

Consider a composite laminate having a combination
of 0 and 90 layers (Fig. 3) subjected to a uniform

0
-0.02

The laminate has a crack separation space

L = 4.0 mm and an equal ply thickness hply = 0.25 mm.
Fig. 12 shows the interlaminar stresses rxz and rzz at
the 0/90 interface. Figs. 13 and 14 present the horizon-

0.1
0

0.5

x/h

xz T

1.5
0.08

( C. N / mm2 )

-0.04
0.06

present

-0.06
0.04

-0.08
-0.1
-0.12

present

-0.14
Tahani and Nosier
-0.16

xz T

-0.18

( C. N / mm2 )

-0.2

Tahani and Nosier

0.02
0
-0.02
-0.04
x/h
-0.06
0

0.5

1.5

Fig. 10. Distribution of interlaminar stresses at the 90/0 interface in a [90/0]s laminate due to a temperature change.

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

0

0.14
0

0.5

x/h

zz (GPa)

1.5

-0.01

323

0.12
0.1

present

-0.02
0.08
-0.03

McCartney and Pierse

0.06

present

0.04

-0.04

McCartney and Pierse

0.02

x/h

-0.05
0

xz (GPa)
-0.06

-0.02

0.5

1.5

Fig. 12. Distribution of interlaminar stresses at the 0/90 interface in [0/90]s laminate with ply cracking under uniform axial strain and thermal
loading.

2.5

which violates the assumption of symmetry. It is seen

from Fig. 14 that showing oscillation near the cracked
layer, McCartney and Pierses solution has diculty in
computing axial stress in the region. This diculty has
been overcome by following the present solution.

u(10-3mm)

Present
McCartney
and Pierse

1.5
1

6. Concluding remarks

0.5
0
z/h
-0.5
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Fig. 13. Distribution of horizontal displacement through the thickness

at x = 0.

xx (GPa)

0.7

Present
McCartney
and Pierse

0.5

0.3

0.1

z/h

-0.1
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Fig. 14. Distribution of axial stress through the thickness at x = 0.

tal displacement u and axial stress rxx through the thickness at x = 0 in the x direction of the representative element, respectively. Due to symmetry, only the
distribution across top half of the element is plotted.
In Fig. 13 the horizontal displacement from the present
solution remains constant along the uncracked surface
(0 6 z/h 6 0.25), while the result obtained by McCartney and Pierse [55] varies slightly near the crack tip

A semi-analytical method has been presented to solve

three-dimensional stresses near free-edges and ply cracks
in cross-ply laminates subjected to a uniform axial
extension and/or uniform thermal loading. The method
was based on a state space representation of the threedimensional equations of elasticity and applied to a quasi-three-dimensional problem and, therefore, the stress
analysis can be simplied as a generalized plane strain
problem. Numerical solutions were obtained using layer
renement in the through thickness direction and Fourier series expansion in the other directions.
The applications of the method were shown by
numerical examples. The convergence of the new method was assessed with respect to the number of Fourier
terms used in expansion as well as layer renement. It
was observed that the numerical results converged very
fast. Comparisons have been carried out to validate
the method. The present results showed good approximation to stress singularities in the vicinity of free-edge
and crack tip.
Since the recursive formulation (see Eq. (25)) was
used to derive the state equations of laminated plates,
the dimension of the nal state equations (see Eq.
(27)) does not depend on the number of layers of a laminated composite. As a consequence, this method is particularly suitable to solve stress concentration problems
of multi-layered composites. The method always provides continuous distributions of both displacements
and transverse stresses across the thickness of a laminate. As demonstrated in the free-edge problem, the

324

D. Zhang et al. / Composite Structures 76 (2006) 314325

model is valid for general unsymmetrical cross-ply laminates subjected to both mechanical loading and thermal
loading.
Acknowledgements
Financial support of this work from the ORS Awards
and the University of Leeds is gratefully acknowledged.
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