Correlation of the bridging model predictions of the biaxial failure strengths of fibrous laminates with experiments

In my other paper (in this issue), the bridging micromechanics model has been combined with the classical lamination theory to predict the progressive failure strengths or the entire stress-strain curves of a set of typical polymer resin based composite laminates subjected to different biaxial loads. The predictions were performed only using the constituent fiber and resin properties and the geometric parameters of the laminates specified independently. Comparison of the predictions with the experimental measurements provided by the failure exercise organizers is carried out in this paper. As a whole, the overall correlation between the theory and the experiments is reasonable. Some additional comments regarding the applications of the bridging model to the simulation of ultimate behavior of fibrous laminates are provided. Comparison of the predictions of each other with and without thermal residual stresses is also made. It is demonstrated that for most of the present epoxy resin based composites, the effect of the thermal residual stresses is grossly insignificant. Thus, a general conclusion may be that in most cases the thermal residual stresses can be neglected for a thermoset polymer resin based composite. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.