Modelling cyclic shear deformation of fibre/epoxy layers in fibre metal laminates

Relations for a theoretical model were derived describing the shear deformation of uni-directional fibre/epoxy layers in Fibre Metal Laminates. The shear deformation is induced by the cyclic shear stresses at the interface that result from the cyclic load transfer from aluminium to the bridging fibre/epoxy layers during fatigue loading of the laminate. With the presented relations the crack opening contribution as result of shear deformation can be calculated. As the shear deformation is hard to measure experimentally, the theoretical model has been validated by comparing the model with finite element analysis. A good correlation has been obtained between the presented theoretical model and the FE-model representing the complex reality.