On the transverse cracking and stiffness degradation of aged angle-ply laminates

A modified shear lag analysis, taking into account the concept of stress perturbation function, is employed to evaluate the effect of transverse cracks on the stiffness reduction in aged angle-ply laminated composites. The results of this paper represent well the dependence of the degradation of elastic properties on the cracks density, hygrothermal conditions and the fibre orientation of the outer layers.