Open hole compressive strength of composite laminates and sandwich panels: comparison between Budiansky–Fleck–Soutis model and experiments

In this study, the compressive behaviour of carbon fibre reinforced plastic quasi-isotropic laminates and sandwich panels with carbon fibre reinforced plastic face sheets and syntactic foam core has been investigated. Experimentally determined open hole strengths have been compared with theoretical predictions obtained by applying a linear cohesive zone model. The unnotched compressive strength has been experimentally determined, and the in-plane fracture toughness has been analytically predicted as input parameters of the model. Buckling phenomena occurred on some specimens, and they have been taken into account. Evaluation of macroscopic failure modes in compression tests on unnotched specimens led to a better understanding on the advantages of the analytical model and on the possibility of applying the model to sandwich structures. The experimental results were in good agreement with the analytical prediction by the Budiansky–Soutis–Fleck cohesive zone model, and the difference between theoretical and experimental open hole strengths of Syncore sandwich panels was <9%.