Prediction ability analysis of phenomenological strength criteria for composites

Abstract

The article examines and assesses the phenomenological strength theory of composite materials. A comparative analysis of the theoretical envelopes was conducted for each criterion. A unified form of the phenomenological strength criterion was established. The study specifically examined the effects of altering the interaction parameter on the Tsai-Wu criterion’s theoretical envelope. Based on the available experimental data, the study plotted the failure envelopes of each strength criterion under planar composite stress states. The variation of these envelopes across various stress quadrants was highlighted. As a result of the examinations, four typical phenomenological strength criteria were chosen. The composites’ off-axis tensile and biaxial loading test data were used to evaluate the predictive power objectively. The results showed that not all stress states’ test results agreed with the predictions of the phenomenological strength theory. The criterion proposed by Norris and Tsai-Hill performed better at accounting for the material’s different compressive and tensile characteristics. The other criteria tended to be conservative under particular circumstances. Simultaneously, the Hoffman criterion matched the test data more closely over a broader range of stress states. Overall, this study clarified the limitations and applicability of various strength criteria in composite material strength prediction.