Elastic Constants Identification of Composite Materials Using Single Angle-Ply Laminate

Abstract

A method is presented for identification of elastic constants for composite materials using three measured strains of a single angle-ply laminate subjected to tensile testing. In the proposed method, the trial material constants of the angle-ply laminate are used to predict the corresponding strains in the laminate. An error function is established to measure the difference between the experimental and theoretical predictions of the strains. The identification of material constants is then formulated as a constrained minimization problem in which the material constants are determined to make the error function a global minimum. The accuracy and capability of the proposed method are demonstrated by means of a number of examples of the identification of material constants of angle-ply laminates with different lay-ups. Experimental data obtained from static tensile tests of several angle-ply laminates are used to identify the material constants of the laminates. The excellent results obtained in the experimental investigation have validated the applicability of the proposed method.