Bending of Cord Composite Plates

Abstract

The behavior of one‐ply and two‐ply unidirectional cord‐rubber composite plates in pure bending is presented. The model developed takes in account the extension‐twisting coupling of the cord, as well as the exact location of the cord within the composite plate, and the bending stiffness of an individual cord. The Kirchhoff plate assumptions are used as the kinematic relationships for the composite plate. The cord mechanics are based on the work of Costello. The current results are compared to the classical lamination theory results using the material constants of Gough and Tangorra, as well as the constants of Akasaka and Hirano, to show the limits of usefulness for classical lamination theory for this class of composites. The results of the one‐ply composite plate investigations vary significantly from the results of classical lamination theory, especially for cases with large mismatch between the cord and matrix modulus of elasticity.