INTERLAMINAR THERMOELASTIC STRESSES IN LAYERED BEAMS

Interlaminar stresses are evaluated in layered beam composites subjected to differential expansions and contractions of the individual beam elements. It is shown that the maximum interlaminar stresses occur at the free ends of the beam and increase as the effective bond-layer stiffness increases, whereas the stress distribution is confined to a narrower region. It is also demonstrated that the stress responsible for delamination failures can be made to vanish by an appropriate choice of material and beam-section properties.