FEM analysis of laminated composite plate with rectangular hole and various elastic modulus under transverse loads

The aim of this work is to predict the expansion of the plastic zone and residual stresses in layers of fiber-reinforced, thermoplastic laminated composite plates with rectangular hole. The effects of the material properties (constant modulus ratio, E1/E2E1/E2) on residual stresses and expansion of the plastic zone are studied. The elastic and elastio-plastic stresses are analyzed using the finite element method (FEM) by means of a developed computer program with FORTRAN 90. Loading is gradually increased from yield point of the plate as 0.0001 Mpa at each load step. The elastic, elastio-plastic, residual stress components, and the expansion of the plastic zones are obtained for different load steps, different orientation angles, and rectangular hole dimensions under clamped and simply supported boundary conditions. Results showed that the maximum stress levels and the plastic zones appear the vicinity of the rectangular hole at the upper and lower layers. The relevant analysis is carried out under clamped and simply supported boundary conditions for different thermoplastic materials having constant modulus, E1E1, E2E2.