Shear forces, root rotations, phase angles and delamination of layered materials

In this paper, the concepts of root rotations and phase angles in laminated structures are reviewed, with particular reference to how the presence of a shear force affects the fracture mechanics of an interface. It is shown that it is possible to combine all the effects of shear into an effective root rotation, rather than the usual approach of invoking root rotation as a correction to a clamped Timoshenko beam. This simplifies the mechanics of...