LaRC 03 failure criterion

Recognizing that most failure criteria are limited in their accuracy [8,9], researchers worldwide have undertaken collaborative efforts to evaluate different failure criteria to determine their accuracy and applicability in order to find the best one [10]. These efforts, in particular the worldwide failure exercise in [10], have underlined the fact that despite the large number (over 20) of failure criteria, there is no single one that seems to capture failure of composites accurately for a wide range of loading situations and materials. However, they have pointed out that certain criteria are more accurate and/or have a wider range of applicability than others. Most notable among these are the Puck criterion and the LaRC 03 failure criterion. 

LaRC 03 failure criterion The LaRC 03 failure criterion [12] consists of a family of six criteria. It is an extension of the Puck [11] and Hashin [13] failure criteria. Like the Puck criterion, it focuses on the fiacture plane that is determined by maximizing the Mohr—Coulomb stresses. In the LaRC 03 criterion, failure due to matrix compression is the result of local interaction of shear stresses on a fracture plane. This perspective comes from soil mechanics situafions where the compression strength is different than the tension strength. It is parficularly useful in cases where, on a certain plane in the material, there are both normal and shear stresses acting. The interaction line that... 

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