Abstract:
In the literature, very few publications are available that deal with the structural response of biocomposite plates with interlayer slips. Realistically, the bonding in the plates is rigid enough to make a significant contribution to the overall structural integrity of the plate, yet flexible enough to permit interlayer shear deformation. A closed-form solution for laminated biocomposite plates assembled with non-rigid bonding and subjected to edgewise loading is presented in this paper. The edgewise load can be uniaxial or biaxial; applied to the facings only, core only, or to both components. The solution satisfies the equilibrium equations of the layers, the compatibility equations of stresses and strains at the interfaces, and the boundary conditions. To investigate the effects of the finite values of bonding stiffness on the mechanical responses of the plates, numerical evaluations are conducted. The results obtained have shown that the adhesive stiffness has a strong effect on the plate mechanical response. Beyond a certain level of stiffness, the usual assumption of perfect bonding used in classical theories is acceptable. This could provide an answer to what constitutes perfect bonding in terms of the ratio of the inner layer stiffness to the bonding stiffness.