Stress concentration analysis of thick-walled laminate composites with a loaded circular cut-out by using a first-order shear deformation theory

Abstract Stress concentrations in the vicinity of cut-outs can often be regarded as design drivers for the whole structure. Especially in thick-walled laminate composites not only the extension-bending coupling effects but as well the influence of the shear deformation has to be taken into account. For analyzing stress concentration effects in the vicinity of circular cut-outs in thick-walled anisotropic composites, sophisticated semi-analytical solution methods based on a first-order shear deformation theory have been developed at the Institut fur Leichtbau und Kunststofftechnik. The comparison of the strains in the vicinity of cut-outs in textile–reinforced composites obtained by the new semi-analytical methods with experimentally measured and numerically determined strain values show a good agreement.