A Micromechanical Fracture Mechanics Analysis Of A Fiber Composite Laminate Containing A Defect

The vast majority of developments in fracture mechanics have been instigated by the need to avoid fracture of metals. Consequently, these developments are based on the assumption that the material is homogeneous--an assumption that is far more palatable in the case of most metals than it is for fiber-reinforced composites. Attempts to make fracture mechanics concepts more applicable to composite materials have resulted in the emergence of anisotropic fracture mechanics approaches. But, while this simple extension of linear elastic fracture mechanics does remove the assumption of material isotropy, it still assumes the material to be homogeneous. Experimental evidence suggests that the application of anisotropic fracture mechanics to fiber-reinforced composites still leads to inconsistencies in the prediction of fracture.