Repeatability of the slitting method in measurement of residual stresses in laminated composites

Using the eigen-strain reconstruction method, the repeatability of the slitting method in residual stress measurement of laminated composites was investigated. A new parameter which specifies the minimum distance between the subsequent slits was introduced and the finite element analysis was used to evaluate the proposed application. The simulations depicted that after the cut, the residual stress field experiences alternation only within the proposed domain. This feature implies that other regions undergo no change in their residual stress fields and all components of the residual stress tensorial remain constant. Therefore, finite element analyses suggested that the next slitting experiments should be performed outside this region to diminish the effect of the preceding cuts. Eventually, the proposed method was verified by the use of the repeatability of the slitting method in cross-ply composites experimentally. The results of the four slitting experiments on a single specimen had appropriate agreement with each other and guaranteed the reliability of the present method.