Proceedings of the 26th Academic Council held on 18.5.

2012

MechanicsofCompositeMaterials

MEE XXX
2 1 0 3
Version No.
Course Description
Composites are becoming an essential part of todays materials because they offer
advantages such as low weight, corrosion resistance, high fatigue strength, faster
assembly, etc. Composites are used as materials ranging from making aircraft structures
to golf clubs, electronic packaging to medical equipment, and space vehicles to home
building. Composites are generating curiosity and interest in students all over the
world.
This course emphasizes an overview of composites followed by basic mechanical
behavior of composites.
Objectives:
To develop comprehensive knowledge in mechanical behavior of composite
materials.
To introduce the mechanics concepts and structural theories of composite
materials.
Expected Outcome:
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to get a necessary
foundation for further study of topics such as impact, fatigue, fracture mechanics,
creep, buckling and vibrations, etc.
Unit I
Introduction to composite materialsClassification-Fiber reinforced composite
materials- Utilizing the strength of fibers-Laminae and Laminates-Fibers & MatricesFiber surface treatments-Recycling Fiber-Reinforced composites.
Micromechanical Analysis of a Lamina- Volume and Mass Fractions, Density, and
Void Content Prediction of engineering properties using micromechanics-Material
properties of the fiber and matrix-Determination of thermal expansion coefficientsDetermination of Extensional Modulus, Shear Modulus and Poissons Ratios- strength of
materials approach-Semi-Empirical Models-Elasticity approach.
Unit II
Macro mechanical analysis of a lamina -linear elastic stress-strain characteristics
of Fiber-Reinforced material: Stress and deformations in Fiber-Reinforced materialsMaxwell-Betti reciprocal theorem- Stress-strain relations- Effects of free thermal strains
and moisture strains.
The plane-stress assumption-Stress-strain relations for plane stress- Effects of
free thermal and free moisture strains- Plane stress & strain relations in a global
coordinate system- Transformation relations-Transformed reduced compliances &
stiffnesses- Effects of free thermal and free moisture strains.
Unit III
Classical Lamination Theory: Kirchhoff Hypothesis- Laminate NomenclatureLaminate strains and displacements - Implications of the Kirchhoff Hypothesis- Laminate
stresses & strains -Stress distributions through the thickness- Force and moment
resultants-Laminate stiffness matrix: ABD Matrix-Classification of laminates and their
effect on the ABD Matrix-Elastic couplings.

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Proceedings of the 26th Academic Council held on 18.5.2012

Unit IV
Failure, Analysis, and Design of Laminates:Symmetric laminates- Cross-ply
laminates- Angle ply laminates- Antisymmetric laminates- Balanced laminate- Quasiisotropic laminates- Failure theories for fiber-reinforced materials: Maximum stress
criterion- Tsai-Wu criterion- Environmental effects- Effect of laminate classification on
the unit thermal force and moment resultants- Interlaminar stresses- Impact resistanceFracture resistance- Fatigue resistance.
Unit V
Through-thickness laminate strains- Thickness change of a laminate- Thickness
change of a laminate due to free thermal strain effects-Through-thickness laminate
coefficient of thermal expansion.
Fiber-reinforced laminated beamsFiber-reinforced laminated plates-Equations
governing plate behavior-Governing conditions in terms of displacementsSimplifications to the governing equations.
Manufacturing composite laminates- Fabrication- processing- Forming structural
shapes- Non-autoclave curing- Manufacturing defects.
References
1. Stress Analysis of Fiber-Reinforced Composite Materials by Michael W. Hyer and
Scott R White, DEStech Publications, Inc, 2009.
2. Mechanics of composite materials by Autar K. Kaw, Taylor & Francis, 2006.
3. Mechanics of composite materials by Robert Millard Jones, Taylor & Francis,
1999.
4. The behavior of structures composed of composite materials by Jack R. Vinson, R.
L. Sierakowski, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.
Mode of Evaluation

Quiz/Assignment/ Seminar/Written Examination

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