Mechanical behavior of glass/epoxy tubes under combined static loading. Part I: Experimental

A series of biaxial static tests of E-glass/epoxy tubular specimens [±45]2, subjected to combined torsion and tension/compression were performed to simulate complex stress states encountered in a wind turbine rotor blade. The failure locus in the effective axial-shear stress plane was derived experimentally while in-plane strain tensor components were measured in the tube outer surface. By means of shell theory and strain measurements in the surface of the specimen, the in-plane shear response of the outer ply was obtained, revealing dependence each time to the combined tube loading. The correlation established between the ratio of transverse normal and in-plane shear stress in the principal coordinate ply system and the elastic shear modulus, suggested a strong dependence, warning on the implications for design and certification procedures.