Appendix

Composite Materials
C
Contributed by

Barry J. Berenberg
General Manager, Composite Materials Site of
About.com (composite.about.com)

In collaboration with
Universal Technical Systems, Inc., 202 West State
Street, Rockford, IL 61101, USA
(www.roarksformulas.com)*

Composite members, as discussed in Secs. 8.3 and 8.8, are composed of

more than one material where each material is of a continuous and
homogeneous cross-section. The equivalent stiffnesses of these
members are determined by a simple technique using an equivalent
width. Composite materials, on the other hand, are made up of more
than one material continuously dispersed at the macroscopic level at
various angular orientations, and obtaining the combined material
properties is much more complex. To this end, computer software is
available. Once the material properties have been obtained from the
software, the equations and tables provided in this book can be
utilized. The following discussion is only intended to provide some
introductory insight into the analysis of structures composed of

* Analysis of composites is simplified if you have access to software specifically

developed for this purpose. A free version of software for a limited number of composite
materials is available from UTS at the web site, www.uts.com=composites=.

827
828 Formulas for Stress and Strain [APP. C

composite materials. Certainly, much more exposure is necessary

before one can become proficient in this important topic.

C.1 Composite Materials

Composites are formed from two or more dissimilar materials, each of
which contributes to the final properties. Unlike metallic alloys, the
materials in a composite remain distinct from each other at the
macroscopic level.
Most engineering composites consist of two materials: a reinforce-
ment and a matrix. The reinforcement provides stiffness and strength;
the matrix holds the material together and serves to transfer load
among the discontinuous reinforcements. The most common reinforce-
ments, illustrated in Figure C.1, are continuous fibers, either straight
or woven, short chopped fibers, and particulates. The most common
matrices are various plastic resins.
Metals and other traditional engineering materials are uniform, or
isotropic, in nature. This means that material properties, such as
strength, stiffness, and thermal conductivity, are independent of both
position within the material and the choice of coordinate system. The
discontinuous nature of composite reinforcements, though, means that
material properties can vary with both position and direction. For
example, an epoxy resin reinforced with continuous graphite fibers
will have very high strength and stiffness in the direction of the fibers,
but very low properties normal or transverse to the fibers.
This directionality increases the complexity of structural analyses.
Isotropic materials are fully defined by two engineering constants:
Young’s modulus E and Poisson’s ratio n. A single ply of a composite
material, however, requires four constants, defined with respect to the
ply coordinate system shown in Figure C.2. The constants are two
Young’s moduli (the longitudinal modulus in the direction of the fibers,
E1 , and the transverse modulus normal to the fibers, E2 , one Poisson’s
ratio n12 , called the major Poisson’s ratio, and one shear modulus G12 ).

Figure C.1 Composites categorized by reinforcement type

APP. C] Composite Materials 829

Figure C.2 Ply coordinate system

A fifth constant, the minor Poisson’s ratio n21 , is determined from the
other properties through the reciprocity relation
n12 n21
¼ ðC:1Þ
E1 E2

Table C.1 shows typical properties for a variety of composite systems.

Each of the composites listed is a unidirectional composite, consisting of
parallel fibers running in a single direction. The longitudinal modulus
is largely a function of the fiber modulus, whereas the transverse and
shear moduli are largely functions of the resin modulus. Thus, higher-
modulus fibers will raise the longitudinal modulus of the composite,
but will have a negligible effect on the other properties. The table also
shows typical strengths for each material. As with the elastic proper-
ties, the strength is significantly greater in the longitudinal than in
the transverse direction. Also note that compressive strengths are
significantly lower than tensile strengths. This difference must be
accounted for when analyzing composite structures for failure.

C.2 Laminated Composite Materials

The properties in Table C.1 are for a single ply or lamina of a
composite. Because the transverse properties are so low, practical
composite structures consist of laminates built up from a stack of
laminae. To improve the transverse properties of the laminate, the
plies are stacked so the fibers are rotated at various angles y, defined
relative to a convenient laminate coordinate system, as shown in
Figure C.3. In the case of a beam, for example, the x-axis of the
 830 Formulas for Stress and Strain [APP. C

TABLE C.1 Composite Material Systems

T300=976 IM7=3501- 6 IM6=APC2 E=Epoxy S2=381 K49=Epoxy B=5505

Type Low-mod. Int.-mod. Int.-mod. E-Glass= S-Glass= Kevlar= Boron=
Gr=Epoxy Gr=Epoxy Gr=PEEK Epoxy Epoxy Epoxy Epoxy
Property
E1 (Msi) 19.6 20.2 21.6 5.7 6.93 12.6 29.2
E2 (Msi) 1.34 1 1.28 1.24 1.84 0.8 3.15
G12 (Msi) 0.91 0.8 0.78 0.54 0.681 0.31 0.78
n12 0.318 0.33 0.342 0.28 0.27* 0.34 0.17
F1t (ksi) 211 350 350 157 255 185 200
F1c (ksi) 188 234 167 90 172 49 232
F2t (ksi) 5.66 8.1 9.41 5.7 8.7 4.2 8.1
F2c (ksi) 30 35.7 25.8* 18.6 28.1* 22.9 18
F12 (ksi) 11.1 13.8 23.9 12.9 19.7 7.1 0.78
Ref. 6 7 6 1 6 1 1

Key: F1t ¼ longitudinal tensile strength; F1c ¼ longitudinal compressive strength; F2t ¼ transverse tensile
strength; F2c ¼ transverse compressive strength; F12 ¼ shear strength
* Estimated

laminate coordinate system might be chosen to coincide with the axis

of the beam.
Rotating the plies increases the properties in the laminate y-direc-
tion, but this comes at the expense of a decrease in properties in the
laminate x-direction. The greater the rotation angle, the greater the
decrease in x-direction properties. Figure C.4, for example, shows how
the modulus in the laminate x-direction decreases as the ply is rotated
off-axis. The key to lightweight laminate design is to provide just
enough off-axis stiffness or strength to handle the secondary loads,
while orienting as many fibers as possible in the direction of the
primary load.

Figure C.3 Laminate coordinate system

APP. C] Composite Materials 831

Figure C.4 Laminate modulus as a function of ply angle

Composite laminates are analyzed by determining the properties of

the individual laminae and then calculating the effective properties of
the laminate. Ply properties must be expressed in terms of the
laminate coordinate system; this transformation is accomplished
using a method similar to stress and strain transformations (e.g.,
Mohr’s circle).
This analytical process is called Classical Laminated Plate Theory
(CLPT). CLPT requires all lamina and laminate stiffness equations to
be expressed in matrix form. Because of the large amount of matrix
mathematics involved, CLPT solutions are usually handled by a
computer software program. Users input the laminate stacking
sequence, ply properties, and loads; the program outputs the stiffness
matrix, engineering properties, and stresses and strains.
A list of shareware and commercial programs is available on the
Internet (Ref. 5). Some of the more popular programs used for
laminate analysis include:

j CompositePro
j ESAComp
j HyperSizer
j Laminator
j V-Lab

Although the programs handle all of the mathematics, it is important

to at least understand the basic stress–strain relation for a laminate.
The following discussion presents an overview of laminate theory;
832 Formulas for Stress and Strain [APP. C

Figure C.5 Variation of strain, modulus, and stress in a laminate subjected to bending

more complete coverage can be found in any textbook on composite

analysis, such as Daniel and Ishai (Ref. 1).
A general laminate can be subjected to both membrane (in-plane)
and bending loads. CLPT assumes that the resulting strains and
curvatures are uniform throughout the laminate. Because the plies
are oriented in various directions, though, stresses are continuous
only within the individual plies. Figure C.5 shows the variation in
strain, modulus, and stress for a laminate subjected to a bending load.
The strain variation is linear, as with any isotropic material. Because
the ply moduli are discontinuous, however, ply stresses are also
discontinuous. Stresses vary linearly within each ply, but are discon-
tinuous at the ply boundaries.
Because the stresses are discontinuous, it is easier to define applied
loads in terms of averaged stresses, or stress resultants. An element of
a laminate can have up to six applied stress resultants, as shown in
Figure C.6: three in-plane resultants Ni , and three bending resultants
Mi . For an isotropic material, the resultants are simply the applied

Figure C.6 Force and moment resultants

APP. C] Composite Materials 833

stress or stress couple multiplied by the thickness. For laminated

composites, the resultants are found by integrating the ply stresses
through the thickness of the laminate. As with the stiffness properties,
the CLPT computer programs handle the necessary integrations.
Although software makes it unnecessary to work directly with the
stiffness matrices, it is important to understand what the different
values mean. The general form of the laminate stress–strain relation
is given by
2 3 2 32 0 3
Nx A11 A12 A16 B11 B12 B16 ex
6 Ny 7 6 A12 A22 A26 B12 B22 B26 7 6 e0y 7
6 7 6 76 0 7
6 Nxy 7 6 A16 A26 A66 B16 B26 B66 7 6 7
6 7 6 76 gxy 7
6 7¼6 76 7 ðC:2Þ
6 7 6 76 7
6 Mx 7 6 B11 B12 B16 D11 D12 D16 7 6k 7
6 7 6 76 x 7
4 My 5 4 B12 B22 B26 D12 D22 D26 54 ky 5
Mxy B16 B26 B66 D16 D26 D66 kxy

which can be written more succinctly as

½N ¼ ½A½e0  þ ½B½k

ðC:3Þ
½M  ¼ ½B½e0  þ ½D½k

The matrices [N] and [M ] are the applied membrane and bending
loads, expressed as stress resultants. [e0 ] are the in-plane strains; the
supercript 0 indicates the strains are referenced to the laminate
midplane. [k] are the laminate curvatures. [A], [B], and [D] are the
matrix forms of the laminate stiffnesses. The matrix [A] relates in-
plane loads to in-plane strains, and the matrix [D] relates bending
loads to curvatures.
[B] is known as the membrane-bending coupling matrix. It shows
that, under the right conditions, a purely in-plane load can cause the
laminate to warp, or a pure bending moment can cause the laminate to
stretch. This can be seen by looking at one of the six stress–strain
equations:

Nx ¼ A11 e0x þ A12 e0y þ A16 g0xy þ B11 kx þ B12 ky þ B16 kxy ðC:4Þ

If B11 is non-zero, then pulling on the laminate in the x-direction also

causes it to warp about the y-axis. This is the same effect that causes
bimetallic beams (Sec. 8.2) to warp, and in fact the laminate stress–
strain relation will reduce to the bimetallic beam solution if all of the
plies are made from isotropic materials. Such coupling between in-
plane and bending behavior is often undesirable. Fortunately, it is a
simple matter to design a laminate where all [B] terms are equal to
zero.
834 Formulas for Stress and Strain [APP. C

Laminates are described by their stacking sequence. This lists the

orientations of each ply in the stack, beginning with the top ply. If all
plies are of the same material and thickness, then no further notation
is needed. Numerical subscripts refer to the number of times a ply
orientation is repeated. Superscripts may be used to denote different
materials and thicknesses. For example, a [02=90] laminate consists of
three plies: two 0 plies, followed by one 90 ply. Often, the subscript
‘‘T ’’ is used to denote ‘‘total.’’ Thus, the previous laminate might be
written as [02=90]T .
A laminate is called symmetric if, for each ply on one side of the
laminate midplane, there is a corresponding ply on the other side of
the midplane at the same distance and of the same material, thickness
and orientation. The subscript ‘‘S’’ is used to denote symmetry. The
laminate in Figure C.7 can be written as [0=90=30=30=90=0], or more
succinctly as [0=90=30]S .
The matrix [B] is identically zero for all symmetric laminates. This
greatly reduces the stress–strain relations by uncoupling the
membrane and bending terms:

½N ¼ ½A½e0 
ðC:5Þ
½M  ¼ ½D½k

In a general symmetric laminate, the A12 , A26 , D16 , and D26 terms
are nonzero. This means that there is coupling between extensional
stresses and shear strains, and between bending and twisting. Once
again, the Nx equation is

Nx ¼ A11 e0x þ A12 e0y þ A16 g0xy ðC:6Þ

where the A16 term shows that an extensional load is related to shear
strain.
The A16 shear coupling terms can be made to vanish by requiring
that the laminate consist only of plies oriented at 0 and 90 , or that all

0
90
30
30
90
0
Figure C.7 General symmetric laminate with a stacking sequence for a [0=90=30]S
laminate
APP. C] Composite Materials 835

angle plies be balanced. Angle plies are balanced when, for each ply at
þy , there is a corresponding ply at y . If the laminate is both
balanced and symmetric, then all coupling terms are zero, and the
stress–strain relation reduces to
2 3 2 32 0 3
Nx A11 A12 0 ex
6N 7 6 76 e0 7
4 y 5 ¼ 4 A12 A22 0 54 y 5
Nxy 0 0 A66 g0xy
2 3 2 32 3 ðC:7Þ
Mx D11 D12 0 kx
6M 7 6 76 7
4 y 5 ¼ 4 D12 D22 0 54 ky 5
Mxy 0 0 D66 kxy

Figure C.8 shows the stacking sequence for a ½0= 30=90= 45T
balanced laminate; Figure C.9 shows the stacking sequence for a
½0= 30S balanced-symmetric laminate.
For balanced-symmetric laminates, it is also possible to calculate
effective engineering properties. They are
 
1 A212
Ex ¼ A 
h 11 A22
 
1 A212
Ey ¼ A 
h 22 A11 ðC:8Þ
A12
nxy ¼
A22
A
Gxy ¼ 66
h
where h is the total laminate thickness.
There are several other types of special laminates, but the one of
most interest is the quasi-isotropic laminate. Quasi-isotropic lami-
nates are balanced-symmetric, and the ply angles are such that the
laminate stiffness properties are independent of direction. In other

0
30
30
90
45
45

Figure C.8 ½0= 30=90= 45T balanced laminate

836 Formulas for Stress and Strain [APP. C

0
30
30
30
30
0
Figure C.9 ½0= 30S balanced-symmetric laminate

words, the laminate behaves like an isotropic material. (Strength and

bending stiffness however, still vary with direction – hence the term
quasi-isotropic.)
Quasi-isotropic laminates are of the form (angles are in radians)
 
p 2p ðn  1Þp
0

n n n S

or
 
p 2p

p
n n S

where n is any integer greater than 2. The two simplest and most
common quasi-isotropic laminates are ½0= 60S and ½0= 45=90S ,
illustrated in Figure C.10(a) and (b), respectively.

0
45
0 45
60 90
60 90
60 45
60 45
0 0

ðaÞ ðbÞ
Figure C.10 Stacking sequences for the two simplest quasi- isotropic laminates
APP. C] Composite Materials 837

C.3 Laminated Composite Structures

Classical Laminate Plate Theory describes the behavior of laminated
plate elements under in-plane and bending loads. The solution applies
only to plate elements that are in load equilibrium – it does not
account for the geometry of the plate or the boundary conditions.
In general, analytical solutions for composite structures are much
more difficult to derive than for isotropic structures. Solutions for
beams (Refs. 2 and 3), plates (Refs. 2 and 4), and shells (Ref. 2) can be
found if the loads, geometry and boundary conditions remain simple.
Beam solutions are the simplest and are illustrated in the two
examples below.

Bending of Composite Beams

If a composite plate meets the geometric definition of a beam,
namely that the width and height are much smaller than the length,
then the assumptions of standard beam theory can be used. An
equivalent modulus E* is derived for composite beams under pure
bending. The equivalent modulus is then used in conjunction with
Table 8.1 of Chap. 8 to provide an approximate solution for the
bending of laminated rectangular beams. The solution ignores trans-
verse shear deformation, which could be significant, so results should
be used for initial sizing only.
In addition to the standard beam theory assumptions, the following
requirements also apply:

1. The beam is of rectangular cross-section with width b and height h.

2. Plies lie in the x–z or 1–2 plane.
3. The shear coupling terms ( )16 and ( )26 of the matrices [A], [B], and
[D] are zero.

The equivalent modulus is found by applying the beam theory assump-

tions to the constitutive equations, Eq. (C.2), which gives a simple
expression for the moment resultant Mx in terms of the curvature kx
(Refs. 2 and 3). This expression can then be substituted into the
standard beam bending expression, ðEIÞkx ¼ M to find

B2 12
E* ¼ D11  11 ðC:9Þ
A11 h3

If the lay-up is symmetric about the mid-plane, then B11 ¼ 0, and

the equivalent modulus reduces to

12
E* ¼ D11 ðC:10Þ
h3
838 Formulas for Stress and Strain [APP. C

Stresses are calculated on a ply-by-ply basis. In general, only the

stresses along the beam axis will be of interest. The stress in ply k is
given by

½sx k ¼ z½Q11 k kx ðC:11Þ

where

1
B211
kx ¼ M D11  b ðC:12Þ
A11

and Q is the transformed stiffness matrix of ply k. The components of

Q are a function of the ply material properties and the orientation
angle. Q is found while calculating the matrices [A], [B], and [D], and
is usually output by whatever software package is being used.

EXAMPLE
A composite beam is made from T300=976 graphite epoxy with a ½03 = 454T
layup. It is 10 in. long, 0.5 in wide, cantilevered at the right end, and subjected
to a concentrated load of 5 lb at the left end. It is desired to find the maximum
deflection and the stresses at the mid-plane of the top five plies.
Solution
From Table C.1, the ply properties are E1 ¼ 19:6 Msi, E2 ¼ 1:34 Msi,
G12 ¼ 0:91 Msi, and n12 ¼ 0:318. Normalized ply thickness is 0.005 in, for a
total laminate thickness of 0.100 in.
Using a standard software package, the constitutive properties are found to
be A11 ¼ 1:440  106 lb=in, B11 ¼ 4:002  103 lb and D11 ¼ 1:193  103 lb-in.
These values give an equivalent modulus of E*I ¼ 590:94 lb-in2. Table 8.1 of
Chap. 8, Case 1a, then gives 0:705 in as the tip deflection and 50 in-lb as the
moment.
The transformed stiffness properties, again from a standard software
package, are ½Q11 0 ¼ 1:974  107 psi and ½Q11  45 ¼ 6:396  106 psi. The curva-
ture is kx ¼ 0:085 in1 , giving the following for the ply stresses:

Ply z (in) s11 (ksi)

1 7 0.0475 79.34
2 7 0.0425 70.98
3 7 0.0375 62.63
4 7 0.0325 17.59
5 7 0.0275 14.88

The stresses s11 are in the laminate coordinate system. Because plies 4 and
5 are oriented at þ45 and 45 , the s11 stresses in the ply coordinate system
have a shear component. Because the shear strength of composites is much
lower than the tensile strength, this laminate would have to be checked for
failure by comparing the resulting value of s11 in plies 4 and 5 with the
ultimate shear strength of T300=976.
APP. C] Composite Materials 839

Axial Tension or Compression of Composite Beams

The solution for beams under pure axial load is similar to beams under
bending. Instead of an equivalent bending stiffness E*I, an equivalent
axial stiffness ðEAÞ* is found. Again, the standard beam assumptions
apply, with the following additional restrictions:

1. Plies lie in the x–z or 1–2 plane.

2. The shear coupling terms ( )16 and ( )26 ¼ 0.
3. The laminate is balanced-symmetric (½B ¼ ½0).

The requirement for a rectangular cross-section has been relaxed, but

the laminate is now restricted to balanced symmetric lay-ups. Without
that assumption, the membrane-bending coupling matrix [B] is
nonzero, and pure axial loads cause bending in the beam.
The process for calculating the equivalent beam stiffness is similar
to the process for calculating beam bending stiffness (Refs. 3 and 4).
The constitutive equations (C.2) are again simplified using the beam
theory assumptions, and the standard beam equation ðEAÞe0x ¼ P is
solved using the laminate properties:

ðEAÞ* ¼ b*A11 ðC:13Þ

where b* is the equivalent width of the cross-section. For a rectan-

gular beam, b* ¼ b, the width of the cross-section. For a thin-walled
circular cross section, b* ¼ pD, the circumference of the cross section.
If the beam is built up from a series of uniform cross sections (such as a
box beam or an I-beam), then
P
ðEAÞ* ¼ b*A11 ðC:14Þ

where the product b*A11 is summed over each cross-section.

Ply stresses are calculated from

½sx k ¼ ½Q11 k e0x ðC:15Þ

where

P
e0x ¼ ðC:16Þ
ðEAÞ*

EXAMPLE
A composite I-beam is made from T300=976 graphite epoxy with a ½0= 30nS
lay-up (where n ¼ 5 for each flange and n ¼ 3 for the web). The flanges are 1 in
wide and 0.15 in thick; the web is 2 in tall and 0.09 in thick. The length of the
beam is 20 in. An axial tensile load of 1000 lb is applied to the beam. It is
desired to find the axial deflection and the stresses in the plies.
840 Formulas for Stress and Strain [APP. C

Ply properties are the same as in the previous example. The constitutive
properties are calculated using a standard software package, and are found to
be

½A11 flange ¼ 2:190  106 lb=in

½A11 web ¼ 1:314  106 lb=in

The equivalent stiffness is

P
ðEAÞ* ¼ bA11 ¼ 2½bA11 flange þ ½bA11 web ¼ 2½ð1Þð2:190  106 Þ
þ ½ð2Þð1:314Þ  106 Þ
¼ 7:008  106 lb

Equation (7.1-3) of Chap. 7 then gives the total beam elongation as

d ¼ Pl=ðEAÞ* ¼ ð1000Þð20Þ=ð7:008  106 Þ ¼ 2:854  103 in

The transformed stiffness properties, once again from the software package,
are ½Q11 0 ¼ 1:974  107 psi and ½Q11  30 ¼ 1:203  107 psi. The strain in the
beam is simply e0x ¼ d=l ¼ 1:427  104, giving

½sx 0 ¼ 2817 psi

½sx 30 ¼ 1717 psi

C.4 References
1. I.M. Daniel and O. Ishai, Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials, Oxford
University Press, 1994.
2. J.R. Vinson and R.L. Sierakowski, The Behavior of Structures Composites of Composite
Materials, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1987.
3. A.M. Skudra, F.Ya. Bulavs, M.R. Gurvich and A.A. Kruklinsh, Structural Analysis of
Composite Beam Systems, Technomic Publishing Company, 1991.
4. R.M. Hussein, Composite Panels=Plates, Technomic Publishing Company, 1986.
5. About Composite Materials Software listing, http:==composite.about.com=cs=
software=index.htm.
6. Department of Defense Handbook, Polymer Matrix Composites, MIL-HDBK-17E, 23
January 1997.
7. Vendor data, private communication.