STUDY ON EFFECT OF GEOMETRIC AND MATERIAL PARAMETERS ON SHEAR LOADED NOTCHED COMPOSITE PANELS

Notches are provided in various shapes known as cut outs for weight reduction and for providing fastened joints. The understanding of the effects of cut-out on the load bearing capacity and stress concentration of such plates is very important in designing of structures because of the resulting reduced strength of components and higher amount of damage around this region. Studies were conducted previously for notched composite plate under tension and compression. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of geometrical parameters and material parameters on shear loaded notched composite panel. Numerical study was extensively done on ASTM D5766 OHT model for different types of notches of varying shapes as well as for materials- carbon epoxy and fiber reinforced plastic. Compared to other types of loading, shear loading exhibited more influence on stress concentration around notches. Also, variation of stress concentration factor with respect to geometric parameters was much more when compared with material parameters. Among geometric factors, different shapes and orientations had varying effects on stress concentration factor