Fracture of aluminum-epoxy layered composites containing cracks

The plane problem of a composite plate consisting of two aluminum half-planes bonded together through an epoxy layer and containing two parallel cracks, one in the layer and the other in one of the half-planes was considered. The composite plate was loaded by a uniform uniaxial compressive stress distribution applied along the surfaces of the crack of either the layer or the half-plane. The critical value of the applied stress as well as the corresponding angle for crack extension were determined by using the minimum strain energy density theory. Valuable results governing the dependence of the critical failure stress of the composite plate as well as the angle of crack extension from the more vulnerable crack on the geometry of the plate were derived.