Abstract
New structural efficiency diagrams are presented for laminates, showing that additional mass is incurred when (i) laminate balancing axes are not aligned with principal loading axes and (ii) principal loading ratios vary within a part with fixed ply percentages. This presents an opportunity for fibre steering and laminate tailoring in aerospace design. Non-standard ply angles are shown to offer small mass savings when laminate balancing axes are not aligned with principal loading axes. However, such angles may enhance performance in other aspects (e.g. damage tolerance, ease of manufacture, buckling resistance) whilst matching the in-plane stiffness of standard ply angle designs.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | 21st International Conference for Composite Materials |
| Place of Publication | Xi'an |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2017 |