Non-Self-Similar Fiber Fracture in Unidirectional Composites

Abstract

In unidirectional composites containing an initial notch or crack, the maximum stress concentration occurs at the notch along the notch plane. If the fiber failure is governed by maximum tensile stress, the fiber breaks and hence the notch extension should occur in a self-similar fashion. However, experiments show that the fibers break ahead of the notch tip, in many cases away from the original notch plane. An analytical model is developed for the determination of the stresses and displacements in a unidirectional composite containing a rectilinear notch along with some notch tip off-axis fiber breaks. The model is based on the so-called classical shear-lag theory in which the axial load carrying capacity of the matrix is neglected. The results show that the off-axis fiber fracture generally reduces the stress concentration along the original notch plane, and has a stabilizing effect on notch extension. © 1992.

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0013-7944

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1993 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 1993

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