Delamination Buckling of Composite Materials : Springer : 9789024737703 : 9024737702 : 31 Aug 1988 : LIOn Delamination of Laminated Composites (a) Fiber-Reinforced Composites Considerable technological advances in the production of high-strength fibers (graphite, boron, etc.) have led to a wide use of light high-strength composite materials (graphite­ epoxy, boron-epoxy, etc.). It is expedient, to make thin­ walled composite rods, plates, and shells from such materials. Plates can be made by bonding a set of unidirectional thin fiber layers, Fig.l.l. Such plates are orthotropic, as a rule. A random short-fiber composite is shown in Fig. 1.2. Fiber-reinforced composites are widely used in thin-walled aircraft structures because of their specific high strength. For example, the graphite-epoxy composite is characterized by a unidirectional tensile strength of 1.4 GPa while the density is 1.6 Mg/rrt? . For comparison, we may take a steel (steel 4340) whose corresponding properties are iden