Assessment of damage tolerance levels in FRP ship structures

Abstract

This work is concerned with the damage tolerance assessment of laminated composite structures used in ship structures. An intensive review has been carried out with regard to current experimental, analytical and numerical work on both laminates and structural elements. Particular attention has been focused on the problem of damage due to delamination and its structural consequences. Strength assessments of top hat stiffeners and tee joints has been carried out with a view to identifying regions most susceptible to delaminations. It has been shown that such regions are contained within the curved region of the overlaminate in both types of structural elements. Strain energy release rates and J-integral values have been calculated for specific cracks to determine their likelihood of propagation under a variety of loading conditions. Overall, a number of conclusions have been drawn with regard to single-skin marine FRP structures. For example, both the strength - and the energy - based approaches have predicted that a tee joint subjected to a 45 degree pull-off load, delaminations which are deep within the overlaminate are more likely to propagate than those close to the surface.

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