Critical thrust force at delamination propagation during drilling of angle-ply laminates

A new formulation for the critical thrust force necessary to propagate the delamination generated during the drilling operation of an antisymmetric angle-ply laminate is proposed by modeling the delamination zone as an elliptical shape. The critical thrust force is analytically derived with the consideration of bending, twisting and mid-plane extension of the delamination zone. And then to maximize the critical thrust force, the optimal design of an angle-ply laminate is performed to find the optimal number of fiber per millimeter, optimum diameter of fiber and optimum lamination angle using ADS (Automated Design Synthesis). (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.