Comparison of shear-lag theory and continuum fracture mechanics for modeling fiber and matrix stresses in an elastic cracked composite lamina (Q1388525)

This study analyzes fiber tensile and matrix shear stresses near the crack tip in a transversely cracked, unidirectional, fiber-reinforced lamina under a remote tensile stress applied in the fiber direction. The two-dimensional lamina consists of parallel, equally-spaced elastic fibers with elastic matrix in-between, and contains a row of up to a few hundred contiguous fiber breaks aligned transverse to the fiber direction forming a central transverse crack. Using the break-influence superposition technique, we calculate the tensile and shear stress concentrations in the fibers and in the matrix, respectively. These are compared to tensile and shear stresses calculated using linear elastic fracture mechanics and the complete elasticity solution for the continuum limit of a homogeneous, orthotropic elastic material with a transverse central crack loaded in mode I.