Imperfect interface effect for nano-composites accounting for fiber section shape under antiplane shear

This paper investigates the elastic responses of fibrous nano-composites with imperfectly bonded interface under longitudinal shear. The proposed imperfect interface model is the shear lag (or the spring layer) model; the presented nano interfacial stress model is the Gurtin–Murdoch surface/interface model; and the three-phase confocal elliptical cylinder model is the geometry model accounting for the fiber section shape. By virtue of the complex variable method, a generalized self-consistent method is employed to derive the closed from solution of the effective antiplane shear modulus of the fibrous nano-composites with imperfect interface. Five existing solutions can be regarded as the limit form the present analytic expression. The influences of the interface elastic constant, the interfacial imperfection parameter, the size of the elliptic section fiber, the fiber section aspect ratio, the fiber volume fraction and the fiber elastic property on the effective antiplane shear modulus of the nano-composites are discussed. Particularly, numerical results demonstrate that the interfacial elastic imperfection will always cause a significant reduction in the effective antiplane shear modulus; and the fiber interface stress effect on the effective modulus of the fibrous nano-composites will weaken with the interfacial imperfection increases.