Delamination Growth in Composite Plates Subjected to Transverse Loads

Experiments were performed to study the growth of damage in fibre rein forced cross-ply carbon/epoxy composite plates subjected to transverse loads. The plates were repeatedly loaded and unloaded, with the maximum displacements of each loading cycle greater than or equal to the previous cycle. After certain loading cycles, the extent of damage was measured by a combination of C-scanning, optical microscopy, and radiog raphy. The critical strain energy release rate for delamination growth was determined by relating the delamination area to the amount of energy dissipated by the formation of that delamination.