Damage analysis of rectangular section composite beam under pure bending

Laminated composite beams are commonly used in engineering applications involving macro to nano structures. Based on the assumption that plain sections remain plain after deformation, this paper analyzes stress distributions in cross-ply laminated composite beams with rectangular cross-sections, and formulates the basic damage equations through Kachanov's damage definition and Janson's failure criterion. The location of the neutral axis and the ultimate bending moment are obtained for pure bending cases. The effect of the elastic modulus of the two layers on the damage evolution is analyzed; a reasonable damage composite beam model is proposed to predict the ultimate bending moment.