LAMINATED COMPOSITES UNDER FATIGUE LOADING - A DAMAGE DEVELOPMENT LAW FOR TRANSVERSE CRACKING

A model is proposed to characterize the fatigue behavior of a laminated composite structure submitted to different loading level tests. The structure studied is a symmetric plate under plane stress subjected to in-plane loading. As a first approximation, it is assumed that the cracks appear physically and geometrically in the same way under quasi-static and cyclic loadings. In that case, it is possible to use a formulation already developed for quasi-static loading and to extend it to the cyclic case. Experimental data are used to describe the cumulative damage process lending to a damage law. The constants of the model are identified and two-level fatigue rests on a cross-plied specimen are numerically simulated.