The role of delamination in failure of fibre-reinforced composites by M. R. Wisnom Philosophical Transactions A Volume 370(1965): April 28, 2012 ©2012 by The Royal Society

Schematic of pull-out failure of (45/−45)s laminate with no fibre fracture. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Features prone to delamination owing to through-thickness loading. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Features prone to delamination owing to geometry. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Features prone to delamination owing to discontinuities. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Edge view of impacted specimen showing extensive delamination but no surface damage [16]. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

C-scan of impacted specimen showing typical pattern of delaminations [17]. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Effect of loading angle on unnotched quasi-isotropic tensile strength. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Splits and delamination from the free edge in tensile specimen loaded at 22.5° off-axis [29]. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Effect of thickness and ply blocking on unnotched tensile strength. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Photographs and schematic of initial and final failure of (452/902/−452/02)s specimens. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Schematic of pull-out in notched quasi-isotropic laminate. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Open hole specimen geometry. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Effect of hole size on delamination stress of (454/904/−454/04)s) laminates (diamonds, notched; blue line, unnotched W=32 mm; dashed line, unnotched W=4 mm; red curve, fit). M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Effect of ply block thickness and ligament width on delamination of (45m/ 90m/−45m/0m)s) laminates (diamonds: m=4, Tply=0.5 mm; blue line: unnotched W=32 mm; dashed line: unnotched W=4 mm; red curve: fit; squares: m=8, Tply=1 mm; triangle: m=2, Tply= 0.25 m... M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Damage development in interrupted tension test. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Open hole tensile strength of 4 mm thick quasi-isotropic specimens (squares and blue curve: dispersed plies, fibre failure; diamonds and red curve: blocked plies, delamination). M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Delaminations from ply cracks can join up more easily for small holes. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Transition in failure mode for open hole tension specimens. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Geometry of over-height compact tension test specimens. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

C-scans showing effect of ply block thickness on damage at notch. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Delamination failure via pull-out of 0° ply block in (454/904/−454/04)s) compact tension specimen. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society

Transition in failure mode for compact tension specimens. M. R. Wisnom Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2012;370: ©2012 by The Royal Society