Fracture of composite plates containing periodic buffer strips
Fracture of a composite plate which consists of perfectly bonded parallel load carrying laminates and buffer strips is considered. Fatigue cracks appear and spread in main laminates or in buffer strips or in both perpendicular to the interfaces. The external load is applied to the plate parallel to the strips and away from the crack region. The problem is solved for fully imbedded cracks and for broken laminates or strips. Corresponding stress intensity factors are calculated.