Lamina properties, lay-up configurations and loading conditions for a range of fibre-reinforced composite laminates

This paper gives details of the input data and a description of the laminates provided to all participants in an exercise to predict the strength of composite laminates. The input data include the elastic constants and the stress/strain curves for four unidirectional laminae and their constituents. Six types of laminates, chosen for the analysis, are described together with the lay-up, layer thicknesses, stacking sequences and the loading conditions. Consideration is given as to why these six laminates were selected and of the challenges imposed by the selected problems. The detailed instructions issued to the contributors are also presented. (C) British Crown Copyright 1998, Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, published by Elsevier Science Ltd with permission.