The Effect of Stress Singularities in the Failure of Composite Off‐Axis Specimens Subjected to Tension

ABSTRACT This work is motivated by the observation of premature failures in off‐axis tension test specimens for the characterization of intralaminar shear strength in unidirectional composite materials. These failures have been mainly observed in the neighborhood of the corners formed by the test coupon with the tab used to place the specimen inside the jaws of the testing machine. A study of the singular stress state in these critical points and its influence on the geometric and mechanical parameters that characterize the problem has been carried out. The parametric study carried out has allowed for the obtaining of variation plots of the parameters that define the singular stress state with the geometric parameters of the problem. These results have been checked against experimental results, observing that the 3D model can be a more precise representation of the singular stress state in the corner of the off‐axis specimen.