Delamination shape effects in aramid‐epoxy‐aluminum (ARALL) laminates with fatigue cracks

Abstract

Abstract An aramid reinforced aluminum‐epoxy‐laminate, ARALL, which contains a fatigue crack and a delamination zone is analyzed. It is assumed that the interlaminar shear forces between the aluminum and aramid/epoxy layers are transmitted along the delamination boundary. The aramid/epoxy layer of the laminate is considered a series of linear springs. The tensile stress in the aramid/epoxy layer and the stress intensity factor in the aluminum layer are found for various experimentally observed delamination shapes. A residual strength criterion based on the maximum tensile stress in the aramid/epoxy layer is applied and the analytical results are correlated with the available experimental data.