Interlacing for improved performance of laminates with embedded devices

A structural tailoring technique known as interlacing was developed and applied to 24-ply 0 degrees unidirectional graphite-epoxy specimens. Glass slides, representing inert actuators or sensors, were embedded using six different interlacing configurations, defined by the location of the continuous and discontinuous plies through laminate thickness. Eighteen specimens were step loaded under quasistatic uniaxial tension; damage initiation and progression were monitored. The onset of damage at and near the inclusion was delayed and the ultimate strength of the structure was increased substantially by distributing the discontinuity of the inclusion through the thickness via interlacing.