Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Fracture toughness of short fiber/brittle matrix composites

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:7048893

A micromechanics model is proposed for the post-cracking behavior using the force-crack opening displacement relation for an arbitrarily oriented fiber bridging a matrix crack, the fiber orientation density function, and the fiber location density function. Analytical expressions are obtained for the bridging stress-crack opening displacement relationship and for the steady state fracture energy increment due to bridging fibers. The orientation distribution is likely to be biased, depending on the manufacturing process. The model allows the orientation distribution to be prescribed. First, short, inextensible fibers that do not break are analyzed. The results are found to be in the form of a product of the aligned fiber results times a modifying orientation factor. The model is then extended to include fiber breakage, which is observed during pull-out of fibers at large angles. The effect of fiber length, orientation distribution, and other physical and material parameters is also studied. Results are expressed as the sum of results for inextensible fibers and an additional term due to extensibility.

Research Organization:
State Univ. of New York, Buffalo, NY (United States)
OSTI ID:
7048893
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Effect of fiber extensibility on the fracture toughness of short fiber or brittle matrix composites
Journal Article · Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Applied Mechanics Reviews · OSTI ID:237545

Fracture mechanics of fiber-reinforced brittle-matrix composite materials
Thesis/Dissertation · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1990 · OSTI ID:5415369

A Mechanistic Approach to Matrix Cracking Coupled with Fiber--Matrix Debonding in Short-Fiber Composites
Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Transactions of the ASME. Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology, 127:335 (14 pages) · OSTI ID:15016889