An integrated fuzzy AHP approach for optimisation of theory of failures of multi-directional composite laminates

Owing to their improved engineering characteristics, composite materials have been widely used in various engineering fields over the past several decades. But unlike metals, composite materials’ failure is progressive and may be initiated in the form of breaking of fibres, micro-cracks in the matrix, etc. but their propagation and final failure modes may be considerably different. The anisotropic behaviour of composite laminates makes it extremely difficult to formulate a failure theory since it requires performing bi-axial tests and plotting the failure envelopes. The failure strength of multi-direction composite materials has been the subject of decades of research. Since the last few decades, different failure theories have been used and subsequently refined to provide predictions. An attempt has also been made to provide designers with a ranking of the overall efficacy of each failure hypothesis. Fuzzy linguistic variables are frequently used to supplement the traditional analytic hierarchy process in capturing the decision maker’s subjectiveness and fuzziness. The fuzzy AHP method is used in this paper to identify the best theory of failure for composite materials as a decision-making problem. Because of their effectiveness and simplicity, triangular fuzzy numbers are used to demonstrate the strength of each component in the hierarchy structure. © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.