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Guidelines for selecting the appropriate Failure Criterion to calculate the Factor of Safety of your design.
For multi-directional laminates, it is difficult to evaluate which failure theory to use. Similar failure envelopes are constructed for laminates. However, for FPF (first ply failure), which the program uses, there is a wide variation between theoretical predictions and experimental observations due to several reasons. Based on such observations some recommendations are made to help you select among the different failure theories. In general, it is difficult to determine which theory to use due to the lack of comprehensive experimental results. Whenever possible, you should use all three failure theories and select the worst case for a relatively conservative design.
Tsai-Hill Criterion
The Tsai-Hill criterion is best applied to a lamina when strengths are equal in tension and compression. For matrix dominated failure, the Tsai-Hill criterion is best applied to a lamina when cross-fiber stress 2 < 0.
Tsai-Wu Criterion
The Tsai-Wu criterion is best applied for unequal strengths in tension and compression. For matrix dominated failure, the Tsai-Wu criterion is best applied to a lamina when cross-fiber stress 2 < 0.