Composites Science Technology (1995) 261-268 and 55 0 1995 Elsevier Science Limited

Printed ELSEVIER 0266-3538(95)00102-6 in Northern Ireland. All rights reserved 0266-3538/95/$09.50

STRESS CHARACTERISTICS OF UNIDIRECTIONAL COMPOSITES WITH TRIPLE SURFACE NOTCHES

J. H. Zhao, Y. Zhao & L. J. Yu

Department of Modern Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, Peoples Republic of China

(Received 21 October 1992; revised version received 31 May 1995; accepted 26 July 1995) Abstract
This paper deals with the stress characteristics of multilayered unidirectional composites with triple parallel-arranged and equally spaced surface notches. Two cases are considered: composites with infinite fibers, and composites containing finite fibers. For the first case, a Fourier series expansion and a series of ingenious mathematical treatments are used to solve a system of differential-diflerence equations. For the second case, the normal method of solving a system of linear ordinary differential equations with constant coeficients is adopted. The numerical results reveal an interesting phenomenon: the load concentration factors in intact fibers near notches change from high to low then revert to high. Keywords:

finite fibers. For the first case, using a Fourier series the differential-difference equation is expansion, changed to an ordinary differential equation, following which the eigenvalue equation with a parameter is reduced to the ordinary eigenequation by introducing the parameter transform. The fiber axial displacement, load and load concentration factors are given by a series of ingenious mathematical treatments and numerical computations by computer. For the second case, the normal method of solving a system of linear ordinary differential equations with constant coefficients is adopted. The numerical results for the above two cases are compared. The phenomenon observed previously is also found here, i.e. that the load concentration factors in intact fibers near notches change from high to low then revert to high.

unidirectional composites, surface notches, stress characteristics, load concentration factors 2 COMPOSITES WITH INFINITE FIBERS Consider a unidirectional composite containing M layers, in which all the fibers are directed along the x axis and the length of all the fibers is denoted by 2L. The yz plane coincides with the central cross-section of the composite. There are triple parallel-arranged surface notches in the composite, and the spacing between two neighboring notches is assumed to be constant and denoted by 1. A top view of this configuration is shown in Fig. l(a) and a cross-section view with a surface notch is given in Fig. l(b). There are M X (2N + 1) equally spaced fibers embedded in the matrix, such that the location of any fiber in the yz plane can be located by m = 1,2,. . . , M and n = 0,1,2, . . . , N referring to the y and z directions, respectively. The rectangular region (2q + 1) x k which represents the surface notch in Fig. l(b) contains the broken fibers with shaded cross-sections whose locations are given by m = 1,2, . . . , k and n = 0,1,2, . . . , q, respectively. In this section, we shall deal with a multilayered unidirectional composite in which the dimensions in the xy plane are infinite. This means that N and L are infinite.
261

1 INTRODUCTION The mechanical behavior of fiber composites with surface notches has been the concern of a number of researchers.1-9 Some reports have dealt with unidirectional composites containing one or two surface notches. In order to examine interactions between notches, Zhao et al. have explored the case of multilayered unidirectional composites with triple parallel-arranged and equally spaced through notches. This study found an interesting phenomenon in that the load concentration factors in intact fibers near notches display a variance from low to high, following which they go from high to low. In the present paper, we expand on this earlier work to explore the problem of multi-layered unidirectional composites with triple parallel-arranged and equally spaced surface notches. The complex geometry calls for more governing equations and boundary conditions. There are two cases: one is a composite with infinite fibers and another contains

262
(a) Top view q q- + 0 x4 -I 9

J. H. Zhao, Y. Zhao, L. J. Yu
(b) Cross-section view of notched plane

Fig. 1. Schematic views of unidirectional composites with surface notches.

equations and boundary conditions As shown in Fig. l(b), the spacing between two neighboring fibers is a constant, 1, while the area of the fiber cross-section is A = h X H where h and H are the effective width and thickness of fiber. The load p will be applied at the end x = *L of each fiber. The stresses of all the fibers on the surface notches are free. Because of the symmetry, as shown in Fig. 1, only the first quadrant (x 2 0, n = OJ, . . . , N) of the composite needs to be considered. The classical shear-lag theory is applied, i.e. assuming the fibers carry only axial force and the matrix sustains only shear force. Let u&) denote the axial displacement of the fiber (m,n). According to the shear-lag theory, we obtain the following differential-difference equation:
2.1 Governing

Introducing parameters:

the

following

non-dimensional

(5)

and using the relationship: flk=EL du dx equations (l)-(4) d2U1 ---I+ dt* become:

(UA,, - 2U; + U:_,) + R(U: - U:) = 0

d*u GH EAL dx2 + -y (z&+1 - 2u; + u;-,>

+ R(U; - 2u:, + un-1) = 0

(7)

- 2u:, + L&-i) = 0

(I)

for 1 < i < M d2UM ---1+ (U%

dt2

where E is the Youngs modulus of the fiber and G the shear modulus of the matrix. The complete solution to the problem shown in Fig. 1 is obtained by adding the trivial results corresponding to uniform axial load and no broken fibers to the solution corresponding to the following boundary conditions, i.e. u;(o) = 0 u;(l-) = u$) (2) O-Q-) = CQl) for the unbroken fibers, and
A&(O) = -p Aa; = Ad$+) = - p (3)

_ 2U;+

U;__,)+ R( U:-

- ?)

= 0

and U;(o) = 0 U&5;_) = uh(&+) dU%;) d5 = dU%+) d5

(8)

for the unbroken fibers, and dti(O) p= d5 dU%;) d5 _ 1

(9)
= dCz(5.3 = _ 1 d5

for the broken fibers in notched regions, and

Aa;(L+ 00) = 0 (4)

for the broken fibers in notched regions, and

for all fibers whether broken or not.

(10)

Stress characteristics of unidirectional composites with triple surface notches

263

for all fibers whether broken or not. In order to solve eqns (7) for the boundary conditions eqns (8)-(lo), the following Fourier series expression is introduced here: Vi=?+ from which Ui = 1 0z V(&B)cos no dC3 I Equations (7)-(10) are deduced to be: 2 Ecosne n=l

2.2 Solution

Equation (13) can be reduced to the matrix form:

-=AV

d2V dt2

(16)
matrix:

(11)

where A is the M
A=

M shear-stress

(12)

-R

tY2+2R -R

-R a2+2R -R

1
-R a2+2R -R (17)

d2V d52 - (62 + 2R)V + R(Vi+l+ d2VM - (62 + R)P dt2 where S2=4sin2i and

vi-> = 0
l<i<M

(13)

+ z?v-

=0

and V=(V1, V2,.. . , V)T is a column vector of dimensionless apparent displacements. Equation (16) is a system of homogeneous, second-order, linear differential equations, whose eigenequation is:
l/i21- Al = 0 (18)

(14) where I is a eigenvalue of Because 6 matrix A, the

A.

unit matrix of order M, and A is the is a function of the variable 8 in the following transformation is suggested:
XR=A2-(8*+2R)

de * vi(0, cosne = 0 e) I0

(Isa)

(19)

de 0y(t,,e) - P$fl,e)]cOsne = 0 cosne o IT _dwk = I[ dV&~)0) de 0 d5 d51

I IT for the unbroken fibers, and 2 _ =dV(O,e) de = - 1 c0sne Toi dS 2 _ dV(5,,8) c0snede = - 1 rI 4
0 Ic IF 0 dw5~ d5 0) _ W~J+ 4

(15b)

Then eqn (18) becomes: x+1 1 1 x

(15c)

1 = 0 (20)

1x
(15d)

1 1 x+1

MXM

Solving Xj (j = 1,2, . . . , M) from eqn (20), the M eigenvalues of A can then be obtained: (15e)
= o

Ai= 6 + (2 + Xj)R

i = 1,2, . . . , M

1
m,e)
=

(21)

cosne

de

(15f)

The general solution to eqn (13) is: V = gej(cTe^$

j=l

for the broken fibers in notched regions, and dV(&d,$ for05 (15g)

+ c,e-$)

15 i 5 M

(22)

&and (23)

for all fibers whether broken or not. In eqns (15), V and Vi represent the displacements in regions 0 i 5 < & and & 5 5 II &,, respectively.

for & I 5 5 , where the condition of eqn (15g) is considered. In eqns (22) and (23), ei is the ith element

264

J. H. Zhao, Y. Zhao, L. J. Yu
k q

of the eigenvector associated with A;, and c,?, cj and dj are constants to be determined. Substituting eqn (22) into the second expression of eqn (13), we can derive: ej = 1 e, = - (Xi + 1) (24) ej+ = - (XjeJ: + ejP1) for i = 2,3, . . . , A4 - 1. Considering Vi and dV/dt to be the even functions of the variable 8, from eqn (Isa), we have: M zej(c,+ + c,:) = 2 Akcos mf3 i = 1,2, . . . , k (25a)
I=1 m=O

cIT= c

c 2

DjAhcosm8

i=l

m=O

- i e-& 2 2
i=lm=O

$oD;Bf&osm@ DiBLcosme

dj = 5
j =

D@jAmcosmtI- chh,b~

i-lm=O

1,2, . . . , M

(31)

Substituting (13) gives:

c: ci, dj of eqn (31) into eqns (22) and

Vi = ,ge;[

i e-:6(

5 2 D;BLcosmO)eA,f s=l m=O

k q C x qN,cosmtI

and $ej(c,?+c,)=O
j=l

i=k+l,k+2

,...

, M

Wb)

1 --e -A~~~1 n$oD;B,cosmB)e-P) 2

vi = 2 ej 2

(32)

From eqn (Eb), we obtain: $ej(qleA + 2 DT(AL - chhj&B,)cosmee-,~

m=O CJFAh djC-^,l) = $flLCOS WZ0 j=l s=l

(33)

i = 1,2, . . . , k

(26a)

Let
A,=X,, m=O,l,..., q

and

s=1,2 ,...,
q

k (34)

rt = (s - l)(q + 1) + m + 1 B&=X,, i = k + 1,k + 2, . . . , M

m=O,l,...,

s=1,2 ,...,

(26b)

n=(k+s-l)(q+l)+m+l Substituting eqns (32) and (33) into eqns (15d) and (15e), respectively, a linear system with 2k(q + 1) unknown constants are obtained as follows: [;i $J(W = [ -lk(q+l) c+lj] (35)

and from eqns (15~) and (15f), we get:

f&j(cl+eAjcf + djepAjG) = 0

j=l

i = 1,2, . . . , M (27) It is true that if Dj is the solution of the following:

5e$Yj
j=l

= Si, i = 1,2, . . . , M

(28)

where

where x = (xl,& . . . , x2k(q+l)), IkCq+l) is a Unit matrix of order k(N + 1). Furthermore:
11 a mn=a

2
i

-z

K
(

Aje#COS[n

(S -

l)(q

l)

lie

then

x cos[m - (i - l)(q + 1) - 110 de}

s,i = 1,2, . . . , k

(36)

n=(~-l)(q+l)+l,...,s(q+l)

is the solution of the following:

fejX,=E
j+l

m = (i - l)(q + 1) + 1,. . . , i(q + 1) (29)

AjeJ~e-%cos[n -

i=1,2,...,M

(k + s - 1)

Comparing eqn (29) to eqns (25)-(27), we obtain:

c,? + cy = 2
k

respectively,

x(q + 1) - 110 cos[m - (i - l)(q + 1) - 1]8dtI n=(k+s-l)(q+l)+l,...,(k+s)(q+l) m = (i - l)(q + 1) + 1, . . . , i(q + 1)

DjA,cosm8
k
n

(37)

i=l

m=O

hje>epA&hAj&os[n

- (k + s - 1)

c,+e^,t- c,?Y~,~~ djeA,51 0 j = 1,2, . . . , M (30) + = in which, Ah and Bi are constants to be determined. From eqn (30), we find: k

x (q + 1) - 110 cos[m - (k + i - l)(q + 1) - 1]6d0 12= (k + s - l)(q + 1) + 1, . . . , (k + s)(q + 1)

m = (k + i - l)(q + 1) + 1,. . . , (k + i)(q + 1)

(38)

Stress characteristics of unidirectional composites with triple surface notches

265

1.4 1.2 1.0 20

Fig.

2. Dimensionless

axial displacement distribution fibers in first ply (M = 3, k = 2, q = 5, 5, = 5.0).

of

Fig. 5. Dimensionless

axial load distribution of fibers in third ply (A4 = 3, k = 2, q = 5, & = 5.0).

This linear system would be solved on a computer to obtain V and pi. Substituting V and vi into eqn (12) we can calculate the dimensionless displacement and load of the fiber (m,n), as well as the load concentration factors in some fibers.
2.3 Numerical results

Computations

were performed

for the following cases: and load as

well as shear force distributions in some plies of composites with surface notches. Let &(m,n) and K,(m,n) denote the axial load concentration factors (ALCF) in intact fiber (m,n) near the central and deviate notches, respectively. Figures 8-11 show the variations of the axial load concentration factors with the non-dimension spacing between two neighboring notches.

M = 3, k = 2, q = 0, 1, 3, 5, and R = 1. Figures 2-7

plot the dimensionless

axial displacement

S(1.n)
0.5 0 -0.5 -1 .o 1

Fig. 6. Intralaminar

nn Fig. 3. Dimensionless axial displacement distribution fibers in third ply (M = 3, k = 2, q = 5, & = 5.0).

of

shear force (per length) distribution of first ply (S(i,n) = u,,, - u,, M = 3, k = 2, q = 5, & = 5.0).

10

Fig. 7. Interlaminar

Fig. 4. Dimensionless axial load distribution of fibers in first ply (M = 3, k = 2, q = 5, .$ = 5.0).

shear force (per length) between second and third ply (S*(i,n) = I!$:: k = 2, q = 5, 6 = 5.0).

distribution CI,, M = 3,

266

J. H. Zhao, Y. Zhao, L. J. Yu

-o-

Kc(l.1)

4 _ o -

1.00

; 0

I 2

I 4 5

I 6

1 8

Fig. 8. Variation of ALCF with & for M = 3, k = 2.

Fig. 11.

Variation of ALCF with .$ for M = 3, k = 2.

3 COMPOSITES
2.00

WITH FINITE

FIBERS

_~~
-AKc(3.1) - A - Kd(3.1) Kc( 1.2) - l - Kd(l.2) 1

-o-

q=l

At present, N and L are finite in Fig. l(a). We define IZ= 1 to N and the half opening distance of a notch it = 1,2,. . . , q here. For convenience, let R = h/H =l, and
i=l m= { i-l)Nfn i>l

2 E z

1.60

1.20

such that 1 I m 5 NM. Then the governing eqn (7) to the problem can be reduced to the following form:
I I I I I

4 5

d*V -$ =

TMNV

(39)

Fig. 9. Variation of ALCF with 5, for M = 3, k = 2.

where TM, is an MN order matrix (see the Appendix), while V = (VI, V,, . . . , b&N)= is a column vector of dimensionless fiber displacements (note that V, = Vi). Let V, and vm denote the axial displacement of fiber m in regions 0 5 55 & and & 9 55 &, respectively. Then the boundary conditions to the problem shown in Fig. 1 can be written as:

dF/,o =
d[

dK&55) _

d[

-=

d%&3
dr

(40a)

for the broken fibers, and

for the unbroken fibers, and

b
5

Fig. 10.

Variation of ALCF with & for M = 3, k = 2.

for all fibers whether broken or not.

Stress characteristics of unidirectional composites with triple surface notches 3.1 Solution
dV,ld{

267

The general solutions to the homogeneous are:

MN-1

eqn (39)

2.01

vm=~MN+c~N~+

j=l

c.~A,C _ c!~-,C

A,

ejm

(41)

for 05

55

&, and
ejm (42)

for 8,~ 55 &, where h&v = 0 and A*, for j = 1 to MN - 1 are the MN eigenvalues of TMN, ejm is the mth element of eigenvector associated with AT,and C and D terms are constants to be determined. Substituting the general eqns (41) and (42) into eqn (40) yields a system of linear algebraic equations for determining the constants Cj, Cj, Dj, and Dj (j = 1,2,. . . , MN). The dimensionless axial displacement and load of the fiber (m,n), and the load concentration factor can then be computed. 3.2 Numerical results Numerical calculations were performed for a number of types of surface notches. Figures 12-14 plot the

Fig. 14. Dimensionless

0 0 axial load distribution of fibers in third ply for M = 3, k = 2, N = 20, q = 5.

non-dimensional axial load distributions along the fiber in some plies of composites with surface notches. Figure 15 shows the change of the axial load concentration factors with opening distance of notches
1.68 * , A i ,

.A

I 9

10

Fig. 15. ALCF versus q for M = 3, k = 1, N = 20, l/L = 0.5 Fig. 12.

Dimensionless axial load distribution of fibers in first ply for M = 3, k = 2, N = 20, q = 5.

0 0

I
0

0.20

0.40

1 0.60

1
0.80

Fig. 13.

second ply for M = 3, k = 2, N = 20, q = 5.

Dimensionless axial load distribution of fibers in

I/L
Fig. 16. ALCF versus l/L for M = 3, k = 2, N = 20, q = 5.

268

J. H. Zhao,

Y. Zhao,

L. J. Yu

(i.e. the number of broken fibers along the y direction). The variance of the load concentration factors with the dimensionless notch spacing is given in Fig. 16.

REFERENCES
1. Im, J. et al., Surface crack growth in fiber composites. MIT Report, NASA CR-135094,1976. 2. Lo, K. H. & Wu, E. M., Serviceability of composites surface damages. In Fibrous Composites in Design, ed. E. M. Lenoe et al. Plenum Press, New York, 1978, pp. 459-60. 3. Sendecky, G. P., Surface notches in composites. In Fracture of Composite Materials, ed. G. C. Sih & V. P. Tamuis. Martinus Nijhoff, The Netherlands, 1982, pp. 115-37. 4. Zheng, S. & Zhao, J., Investigation on damage of laminates with a surface crack by improved deeply technique. J. Experim. Mech., 3 (1988) 371-7 (in Chinese). 5. Zhao, J. et al., Characteristics of damage morphology of laminates with a surface notch. Acta Mater. Comp. Sinica, 10 (1993) l-5 (in Chinese). 6. Wei, J. & Zhao, J., The Felicity effect of the acoustic emission in composites. Actu Mater. Comp. Sinica, 9 (1992) 65-9 (in Chinese). 7. Zhao, J. & Zheng, S., The damage analysis of unidirectional composite with a surface notch. Proc. ICCM 7, ed. Wu YunShu et al. International Acadademic Publishers, 1989, pp. 90-3. 8. Zhao, J. & Yang, Y., Fatigue behavior of glass fiber epoxy cross-ply laminates with a surface notch. J. Experim. Me&, 8 (1993) 303-10 (in Chinese). 9. Ji, F. & Zhao, J., Stress analysis of unidirectional composites with double surface notches. Proc. ICCM 8, ed. S. W. Tsai & G. S. Springer. SAMPE, 1991, pp. 29-L. 10. Zhao, J. et al., Stress concentration of unidirectional composites with triple through notches. In Progress in Composites. Aeronautical Industry Press, 1994, pp. 851-4 (in Chinese).

CONCLUDING

REMARKS

The stress characteristics of multilayered unidirectional composites with triple parallel-surface notches under axial tension were investigated. Examining the results of numerical calculations, the following remarks may be made.
1.
2.

3.

4. 5.

6.

The axial displacements of fibers sustain a discontinuity across the surface notches. High values of the dimensionless axial load of fibers and of interlaminar shear force as well as intralaminar shear force per length occur around the surface notches and tend to become constant for regions far from the surface notches. The axial load concentration factors in intact fibers next to the surface notches change from high to low then revert to high with spacing between two neighboring notches. Generally speaking, K,(m,n) is larger than K,(m,n). The ALCF increases monotonically with increasing number, 4, of broken fibers. The interlaminar shear force, S*(k - l,O), for example S*(2,0), is larger than shear forces elsewhere. Because the shear strength of the matrix is considerably lower than the tension strength of a fiber, initial failure of unidirectional composites with triple surface notches will probably occur by delamination that takes place at a central location of depth fronts of surface notches. For composites with finite fibers, if q/N is smaller, the displacement and stress distributions are almost the same as those of composites containing infinite fibers when q is equal in two cases. This means that: (i) if q/N and N are all small, the treatment of the problem adopting the procedure in Section 3 is appropriate; (ii) if q/N is small while q is not, then solving of the problem by the method in Section 2 is probably helpful; (iii) if q/N is large, we should adopt the procedure in Section 3 whether q and N are larger or not.

APPENDIX A, -1 -1 A, ..

.. .. . . .

-1. T MN
=

. -1 . .. -1 . .

.. . . -1 .. ... - 1 A,+i

-1 3 -1 Ai= 1,M= -1 3 -1 -1 3

- 1 A,,,

-1

-1 3 _ NxN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The financial support for this project was provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation of China for which the authors are grateful.

_1

4 JNXN