Reliability of Composite Laminates

Abstract

Research on the reliability of composite structures is just beginning. Keeping in mind that a composite laminate is anisotropic and a brittle laminated construction, a new method for computing the reliability of composite laminates is presented. The method is distinct in concept and effective computationally for composite and other brittle component structures. It uses the Tsai-Hill criterion as the failure criterion. Illustrative examples concerning reliability of a laminate under various loadings are given, to confirm the effectiveness of the method.