Prediction of the Ultimate Strength of Composite Laminates under In-Plane Loading Using a Probabilistic Approach

Abstract

A numerical approach is presented for the prediction of ultimate strength of composite laminates. In order to take into account the wide scatter in ply strengths, the basic strength distribution functions for the longitudinal, transverse, and in-plane shear strengths were obtained using a two-parameter Weibull distribution. These functions, in conjunction with the Tsai-Hill failure criterion, were then used to predict the ultimate strength of the composites.