Composite Mechanics

This book in the advanced structured materials series provides first an introduction to the mircomechanics of fiber-reinforced laminae, which deals with the prediction of the macroscopic mechanical lamina properties based on the mechanical properties of the constituents, i.e., fibers and matrix. Composite materials, especially fiber-reinforced composites, are gaining increasing importance since they can overcome the limits of many structures based on classical metals. Particularly, the combination of a matrix with fibers provides far better properties than the constituents alone. Despite their importance, many engineering degree programs do not treat the mechanical behavior of this class of advanced structured materials in detail, at least on the bachelor's degree level. Thus, some engineers are not able to thoroughly apply and introduce these modern engineering materials in their design process.
 
The second part of this book provides a systematic and thorough introduction to the classical laminate theory based on the theory for plane elasticity elements and classical (shear-rigid) plate elements. The focus is on unidirectional lamina which can be described based on orthotropic constitutive equations and their composition to layered laminates. In addition to the elastic behavior, failure is investigated based on the maximum stress, maximum strain, Tsai-Hill, and the Tsai-Wu criteria. The introduced classical laminate theory provides a simplified stress analysis, and a subsequent failure analysis, without the solution of the system of coupled differential equations for the unknown displacements in the three coordinate directions.
 
The book concludes with a short introduction to a calculation program, the so-called Composite Laminate Analysis Tool (CLAT), which allows the application of the classical laminate based on a sophisticated Python script.



Andreas Öchsner is Full Professor for lightweight design and structural simulation at the Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Having obtained a Dipl.-Ing. degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Stuttgart (1997), Germany, he served as Research and Teaching Assistant at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg from 1997 to 2003 while working to complete his Doctor of Engineering Sciences (Dr.-Ing.) degree. From 2003 to 2006, he was Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Head of the Cellular Metals Group affiliated with the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He spent seven years (2007-2013) as Full Professor at the Department of Applied Mechanics, Technical University of Malaysia, where he was also Head of the Advanced Materials and Structure Lab. From 2014-2017, he was Full Professor at the School of Engineering, Griffith University, Australia, and Leader of the Mechanical Engineering Program (Head of Discipline and Program Director).