Experimental Investigation of Delamination Onset and Propagation in Mechanically Coupled Composite Laminates

Numerous applications of composite laminates in modem engineering could be even extended with exploiting mechanical coupling effects. The authors of the current paper perform wide research on the strain energy release rate distributions along delamination front for different fracture toughness test configurations applied to multidirectional laminates. Direct application of the standardized fracture toughness determination methods seems to be possible with introduction of additional parameters describing the disorders of G. The study also tends to assess the risk of delamination of composite structures experiencing mechanical couplings. In the current paper chosen experimental outcomes - obtained during the double cantilever or the end-notched flexure tests, performed in accordance with the ASTM standards are presented.