Free-edge stress singularity in a bimaterial laminate

A Williams type asymptotic solution pertaining to the free edge effect and singular stress field in a bonded rectangular plate of dissimilar isotropic materials is presented. Numerical results presented include the effects of material properties on the computed stress singularity. Additionally, the stress singularity computed using the present analysis is compared with the corresponding plane stress approximation. For example, the largest values for the stress singularities at the free edge of a model bimaterial laminate investigated here can be as high as 0.405 and 0.311, computed using (i) the present analysis, and (ii) the corresonding plane stress approximation, respectively. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.