4.24. Material Strength Limits

Material strength limits represent maximum stresses or strains that a material can sustain. This data table defines the strength limits and other related constants required for computing failure criteria (FC) index of a material under various loading conditions. Specify a TBOPT value on the TB,FCLI command to correspond to the stress limits (TBOPT = 1) or strain limits (TBOPT = 2). The following table lists the coefficient values that are addressed for the available TBOPT values:

Strength Limit ConstantsTBOPT = 1TBOPT = 2
Stress Limits (NPTS = 16)Strain Limits (NPTS = 9)
C1XTEN -- Allowable tensile stress in material X-direction (must be positive)XTEN -- Allowable tensile strain in material X-direction (must be positive)
C2XCMP -- Allowable compressive stress in material X-direction (default to the negative of XTEN)XCMP -- Allowable compressive strain in material X-direction (default to the negative of XTEN)
C3YTEN -- Allowable tensile stress in material Y-direction (must be positive)YTEN -- Allowable tensile strain in material Y-direction (must be positive)
C4YCMP -- Allowable compressive stress in material Y-direction (default to the negative of YTEN)YCMP -- Allowable compressive strain in material Y-direction (default to the negative of YTEN)
C5ZTEN -- Allowable tensile stress in material Z-direction (must be positive) ZTEN -- Allowable tensile strain in material Z-direction (must be positive)
C6ZCMP -- Allowable compressive stress in material Z-direction (default to the negative of ZTEN)ZCMP -- Allowable compressive strain in material Z-direction (default to the negative of ZTEN)
C7XY -- Allowable XY shear stress (must be positive)XY -- Allowable XY shear strain (must be positive)
C8YZ -- Allowable YZ shear stress (must be positive)YZ -- Allowable YZ shear strain (must be positive)
C9XZ -- Allowable XZ shear stress (must be positive)XZ -- Allowable XZ shear strain (must be positive)
C10XYCP -- XY coupling coefficient for Tsai-Wu strength index (default = -1.0)--
C11YZCP -- YZ coupling coefficient for Tsai-Wu failure index (default = -1.0)--
C12XZCP -- XZ coupling coefficient for Tsai-Wu failure index (default = -1.0)--
C13XZIT -- XZ tensile inclination parameter for Puck failure index (default = 0.0)--
C14XZIC -- XZ compressive inclination parameter for Puck failure index (default = 0.0)--
C15YZIT -- YZ tensile inclination parameter for Puck failure index (default = 0.0)--
C16YZIC -- YZ compressive inclination parameter for Puck failure index (default = 0.0)--
C17G1G2 -- Fracture toughness ratio between GI (mode I) and GII (mode II)--
C18ETAL -- Longitudinal friction coefficient--
C19ETAT -- Transverse friction coefficient--
C20ALP0 -- Fracture angle under pure transverse compression--

To determine physical failure criteria in unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite materials, including Puck and Hashin, LaRc03, and LaRc04 criteria, always define the reinforced fiber direction as the material X direction.

The following table summarizes the applicable strength-limit constants for each failure criterion:

Strength Limit ConstantsMax Strain CriterionMax Stress CriterionTsai-Wu Strength RatioPuck CriterionHashin CriterionLaRc03/04 CriterionUser-Defined
C1YYYYYYY
C2YYYYYYY
C3YYYYYYY
C4YYYYYYY
C5YYY------Y
C6YYY------Y
C7YYYYYYY
C8YYY--Y--Y
C9YYY------Y
C10----Y------Y
C11----Y------Y
C12----Y------Y
C13------Y----Y
C14------Y----Y
C15------Y----Y
C16------Y----Y
C17----------YY
C18----------YY
C19----------YY
C20----------YY