Failure analysis of rotating hybrid laminated composite beams

Abstract Rotating hybrid composite beams are prone to failure in industrial applications. The structure under consideration is a rotating beam of hybrid composite construction. The beam is made of a laminated composite material, with the top and bottom layers prepared from a high stiffness carbon fibre composite and the middle layers of a low stiffness glass fibre composite. The cost of carbon fibre is about ten times more than the glass fibre with the hybrid arrangement of fibres leading to cost savings. Three different stacking sequences are taken into consideration which are [0/30/0]S, [0/45/0]S, and [0/0/0]S. Numerical analysis of rotating beams was investigated using Matlab programming. For assessing the theoretical failure limits of non-hybrid and hybrid rotating beams, Tsai-Wu failure criterion was implemented. Minimum thickness of the high stiffness and expensive material (carbon fibre) required to avoid failure at different angular speeds were identified for various problem parameters such as beam thickness, stacking sequence and fibre orientation angle. It was found that the stacking sequence [0/0/0]S provides the highest failure load and uses less carbon fibres by increasing the axial and bending stiffness the hybrid beam, thereby leading to a cost effective hybrid beam.