Failure analysis of curved composite panels based on first-ply and buckling failures

Curved panels are used extensively in several branches of engineering and in particular in marine and aerospace engineering working mostly under compressive loads. Failure of these components by buckling or excessive stress is an important design consideration. In the present study the effect of fiber orientation is studied on the failure load of a laminated curved panel subject to uniaxial compression. The failure modes are specified as first-ply failure and buckling with the failure load defined as the minimum of these two loads. The panel is taken as a symmetrically laminated angle-ply plate and the failure load is determined for different aspect ratios, panel thicknesses and boundary conditions (simply supported and clamped panels). The failure load is maximized for a set of selected stacking sequences by determining the best ply angle for each stacking sequence giving the highest failure load. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ICM11