Analysis of the Free Edge Effect of a Composite Laminate under Axial Tensile Load According to the Environmental Properties of the Composite Materials

In recent years, composites have been used to reduce the overall weight of the structure and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels in aircraft due to their light weight property. The purpose of this study is to investigate the interlayer stresses created in composite layers due to the effect of free edges. In fact, in this study, the distribution of stresses affected by free edges (interlayer stresses) that create force and torque in the direction of thickness is investigated. For this purpose, the changes of the mentioned stresses with the help of numerical modeling for multilayer composite by finite element method are investigated by Abacus software and the environmental effects of composite materials are also discussed. Finally, the effect of different layers on this phenomenon in terms of thickness and width of several composite layers under axial tensile load will be investigated. As a result, on one hand the extended usage of green materials like composites can potentially reduce the previous heavy metallic structures which use more fuel and have much more environmental side effects, and on another hand some stress analytical results such as symmetrically distribution of , asymmetrically distribution of  across the width of multilayer and other discoveries for angle-ply and quasi-isotropic multilayers due to the effect of free edge are gained.

Keywords:

Free Edge Effect , Interlayer Tension , Laminate Composite , Finite Element Method