Predictive method of overall thermomechanical properties of symmetric composite laminates with matrix cracks in multiple plies is presented. A general 2n-ply symmetric cracked laminate is divided into n - 1 cracked sublaminates. Each sublaminate containing obliquely-crossed matrix cracks is analyzed using a two-dimensional shear-lag model and its effective in-plane properties are calculated. Application of lamination theory to the n - 1 sublaminates with effective properties results in estimation of overall properties of the cracked laminate. Effectiveness of this simplified method is verified by comparing with available FE results. Finally, this article shows the applicability of this predictive method to energy release rate analysis associated with matrix cracking.
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