Off-axis strength differential effects in unidirectional carbon/epoxy laminates at different strain rates and predictions of associated failure envelopes

A difference between off-axis tensile and compressive strengths in a unidirectional carbon/epoxy laminate is examined at 100 °C for different fiber orientations and strain rates. By comparing their predictions with experimental results, the Tsai–Wu, Hoffman, Hashin–Rotem failure criteria that can distinguish between the off-axis strengths in tension and compression are evaluated for the accuracy of prediction of the off-axis strength differential (SD) effect and of the failure envelopes associated with off-axis loading at different strain rates. It is shown that the failure envelope associated with off-axis compression is unsuccessfully predicted by these failure criteria. The comparison suggests that the SD effects in the longitudinal, transverse and shear strengths should be taken into account for accurate prediction of the off-axis failure envelope. On the basis of this experimental implication, simple modifications to the representative failure criteria are attempted in which both the normal and shear SD effects are taken into account.