Graphical Determination of Stiffness and Strength of Composite Laminates

Design of composite laminates requires the determination of changes in stiffness and strength resulting from varying the ply orientation and total laminate thickness. Graphical determination can be made simple by use of laminate stiffnesses in conjunction with failure surface in a special strain space. A set of generalized graphs for all practical laminates of a given composite can now replace the current limitation of one set for each discrete laminate.