Axial Strength and Modes of Collapse of Composite Components

The influence of local instability of laminated composite components in compression has been investigated. A mathematical strength model to relate the elastic and maximum strengths of the plate to the sub-element geometry of box type composite component is presented. The modes of collapse of these components when subjected to axial crush loading are discussed. The strength models are compared with various test data of plates with different geometries and layup configurations. These models are extended to be applied to box type composite components and show to correlate well with test data of several fiberglass columns. Also in this paper several design charts for sizing thin wall laminate composite columns are presented and several modes of collapses are discussed.