Abstract

The Tsai-Wu failure criterion is widely used for orthotropic composite materials under plane stress due to its simplicity and low number of material constants. However, there is no consensus on how to find the interaction term. Based on general failure mode interaction assumptions, this paper provides closed form expressions to find the interaction term. In addition, the suitability of the Tsai-Wu’s failure criterion is narrowed to materials whose properties meet specific relationships. Last, it is shown how the Tsai-Wu failure envelope can be defined to pass through four biaxial stress states that best represent the actual testing conditions. All these findings conform an easy-to-apply methodology to define the Tsai-Wu failure envelope that best fits specific assumptions and test data.