The compression strength of dropped-ply, graphite-epoxy laminated plates for the delamination mode of failure is studied by analysis and corroborated with experiments. The nonlinear response of the test specimens is modeled by a geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis. The methodology for predicting delamination is based on a quadratic interlaminar stress criterion evaluated at a characteristic distance from the ply drop-off.

The details of the complex state of stress in the region of the thickness discontinuity are studied using three-dimensional solid elements, while the uniform sections of the plate are modeled with quadrilateral shell elements. A geometrically nonlinear transition element was developed to couple the shell elements to the solid elements. The analysis was performed using the COmputational MEchanics Testbed (COMET), an advanced structural analysis software environment developed at the NASA Langley Research Center to provide a framework for research in structural analysis methods.

Uniaxial compression testing of dropped-ply, graphite-epoxy laminated plates has confirmed that delamination along the interfaces above and/or below the dropped plies is a common mode of failure initiation. The compression strength of specimens exhibiting a linear response is greater than the compression strength of specimens with the same layup exhibiting geometrically nonlinear response. Experimental and analytical results also show a decrease in laminate strength with increasing number of dropped plies. For linear response there is a large decrease in compression strength with increasing number of dropped plies. For nonlinear response there is less of a reduction in compression strength with increasing number of dropped plies because the nonlinear response causes a redistribution and concentration of interlaminar stresses toward the unloaded edges of the laminate.