Fracture strength of various lay-ups of carbon/epoxy laminates using the modified inherent flaw model

Modifications are made in the inherent flaw model of Waddoups, Eisenman and Kaminski (known as the WEK model) for accurate prediction of notched tensile strength of composite laminates containing a sharp notch. To examine the adequacy of the model, fracture data of center cracked carbon/epoxy composite laminates with various lay-ups are considered. The notched strength estimates are found to be close to the test results.