The study of tapered laminated composite structures: a review

Following laminated composite plates and beams, tapered laminated structures, which are formed by dropping off some of the plies at discrete positions over the laminate, have received much attention from researchers because of their structural tailoring capabilities, damage tolerance, and their potential for creating significant weight savings in engineering applications. A review of recent developments in the analysis of tapered laminated composite structures with an emphasis on interlaminar stress analysis, delamination analysis and parametric study is presented. A discussion of various approaches to modelling and analysis of interlaminar response of tapered composites using finite elements and non-finite elements is given. Displacement-based finite elements and hybrid finite elements that are commonly used are also reviewed. A review of various studies on delamination failure mechanisms as a result of drop-off plies in the tapered composites is given next, which mainly encompasses a stress-strength approach and a fracture-mechanics approach. Lastly, a variety of methods that are being used in the parametric studies regarding the structural integrity is presented. Overall remarks drawn from the reviewed works are given in the final section of the paper.