A double inclusion model for microcrack arrest in fibre reinforced brittle materials

A model for the prediction of microcrack growth in a fibre reinforced brittle matrix composite material is suggested. The model is based on composite material theory and linear elastic fracture mechanics. The microcracks in question are so-called large microcracks, i.e. microcracks which are bridged by the reinforcing fibres. The crack bridging fibres are “smeared” out to form a homogeneous medium. This homogeneous medium constitutes together with the matrix crack an ellipsoidal so-called “double inclusion.” Matrix cracking as well as interfacial debonding can be analysed and this analysis can be synthesized and interpreted as a determination of the strength of the reinforced matrix. The model is compared with some experimental results, and good agreement is found. The model can serve as a tool for the design of brittle matrix composite materials because it identifies the significance of fibre geometry, volume fraction of fibres, and adhesion between fibres and matrix.     

Damage growth by debonding in a single fibre metal matrix composite: Elastoplasticity and strain energy density criterion

A displacement-based finite element-based numerical approach has been employed to study the damage growth in a unidirectional SiC/Al composite containing a pre-existing crack along the fibre/matrix interface. The composite is modeled as a two-material cylinder subjected to uniform displacement. A detailed analysis is made for the stress field in the vicinity of the debond crack tip. This approach incorporates an elastic-plastic analysis combined with a strain energy density criterion to predict debonded crack growth direction, extended stable growth and final termination. The influence of contact taking place between the debonded surfaces is also considered. It is shown that such surface contact leads to reduced stress and strain fields around the crack tip, while the extent of reduction is increased with debonding length. By combining the reduced stress field with the strain energy density criterion, a limiting value for the debonding extension can be calculated for the critical applied displacement that led to fibre fracture.     

Buckling driven debonding in sandwich columns

A compression loaded sandwich column that contains a debond is analyzed using a geometrically non-linear finite element model. The model includes a cohesive zone along one face sheet/core interface whereby the debond can extend by interface crack growth. Two geometrical imperfections are introduced; a global imperfection of the sandwich column axis and a local imperfection of the debonded face sheet axis. The model predicts the sandwich column to be very sensitive to the initial debond length and the local face sheet imperfection. The study shows that the sensitivity to the face sheet imperfection results from two mechanisms: (a) interaction of local debond buckling and global buckling and (b) the development of a damaged zone at the debond crack tip. Based on the pronounced imperfection sensitivity, the author predicts that an experimental measurement of the strength of sandwich structures may exhibit a large scatter caused by geometrical variations between test specimens.     

Analysis on interface damage of fiber reinforced composites under cyclic load

Based on the shear-lag model, the interface damage of fiber reinforced composites near a matrix crack under cyclic load is analyzed. The governing equations for load and unload processes are derived and solved. The effective debond stress and the debond velocity are then obtained. Furthermore, the degradation of friction stress on the interface caused by slipping is taken into account. Results are given for the degradation behavior and the steady state of debonding.     

Debonding of short fibres among particulates in a metal matrix composite

A numerical analysis is carried out for the development of damage by fibre–matrix debonding in aluminium reinforced by aligned, short SiC fibres. A unit cell-model that has earlier been applied to study materials with arrays of transversely staggered fibres is here extended to contain a number of differently shaped fibres or particulates in each unit cell, thus representing debonding of a relatively long discontinuous fibre among particulates that do not debond. Interfacial failure is modelled in terms of a cohesive zone model that accounts for decohesion by normal separation as well as by tangential separation. It is found that the evolution of failure can depend rather strongly on the distribution of particulates around a fibre subject to debonding.     

Brush-like modes of fatigue fracture in unidirectional fibre composites

Fatigue fracture of unidirectional fibre composites under tension along the fibres is discussed with account of the interaction between various mechanisms of damage such as single and multiple fibre ruptures, matrix cracking, and matrix-fibre debonding. The case of brittle fibres and a comparatively weak and ductile matrix is considered that exposes non-conventional modes of fracture, named “brush-like” cracks. Growth of such cracks under cyclic quasistatic loading is studied, and the effect of various factors on the crack growth rate is investigated.     

A percolation-type fracture criterion for composites with randomly oriented fibres

A fracture model is built up for a solid composed of brittle fibres randomly oriented in the matrix volume. The fracture process includes a stable growth of microcracks caused by fibre breaking under the load and formation of an infinite cluster of the microcracks. Both upper and lower bounds for ultimate stress in a fibre system are found as functions of the fibre volume fraction. The calculation of the ultimate stresses are performed by using the percolation theory and the theory of branching processes. At the present stage of the theory under consideration, only two types of the microcracks are appraised, namely that of a delamination type which corresponds to a weak fibre/matrix interface, and that of a penny shape which corresponds to a strong fibre/matrix interface. A particular solid contains only one type of the microcracks. In both cases, non-linear dependencies of the ultimate composite strength on fibre volume fraction are obtained.     

Lattice Gas Analysis of Liquid Front in Non-Crimp Fabrics

The liquid flow front during impregnation of non-crimp fabrics is considered. Irregularities in fibre bundle architecture lead to generation of bubbles at this front. The velocity of this interface is highly influenced by capillary forces mainly caused by the small fibres inside the bundles. In order to better understand which shapes the liquid front takes up at different conditions, a lattice gas model has been applied. First, the macroscopic properties of the solved gas in the liquid are discussed. Next, bubble inclusions are analyzed as to liquid–gas interface position and concentrations of minor component in each phase. The capillary effects at the fluid front are studied for systems both with and without gaps between the bundles. The flow in the interior of the fibre bundles is scrutinized, as well, by also considering the viscous stresses. The flow through unidirectional fabrics is considered by a one-dimensional model, which suggests that the liquid front inside bundles and gaps moves with the same speed when the liquid front inside the bundle has to catch up with the liquid front in the gap.     

纤维压出实验双向脱粘现象的数值研究

本文利用轴对称边界元程序，对影响纤维同界面剪面应力分布的材料和几何参数；纤维与基体的弹性模量比，纤维体积分数，试件厚度和支撑孔尺寸进行了数值分析工作，找出了纤维压出实验中导致界面双向脱粘的主要影响参数，给出了关于性暮一经和纤维体积分数的两界面端初始剪切脱粘的发生区域。     

基于弹性-塑性内聚力模型的纤维拔出界面宏观行为分析

用解析法分析了单纤维从聚合物基体中的拔出过程,采用弹性—塑性内聚力模型模拟裂纹的扩展和界面失效,确定了临界纤维埋入长度,该值区分两种不同长度的纤维拔出过程. 在纤维拔出过程,界面经历不同的阶段. 纤维埋长小于临界长度时,界面的脱粘载荷与纤维的埋长成正比;超过临界长度后,界面的脱粘载荷近似为常数. 分析了界面参数对脱粘载荷的影响:增加界面的剪切强度和界面的断裂韧性,或减小界面裂纹萌生位移,均能提高界面的脱粘载荷;界面脱粘后无界面摩擦应力时,拔出载荷—位移曲线的峰值载荷等于界面的脱粘载荷;界面摩擦应力存在时,使峰值载荷大于脱粘载荷,需要较长的纤维埋入长度和较大的界面摩擦应力.      

Slip, stick, and reverse slip characteristics during dynamic fibre pullout

Inertial effects in the mechanism of fibre pullout (or push-in) are examined, with emphasis on how the rate of propagation of stress waves along the fibre, and thence the pullout dynamics, are governed by friction and the propagation of companion waves excited in the matrix. With a simple shear lag model (assuming zero debond energy at the fibre/matrix interface), the effect of uniform frictional coupling between the fibre and the matrix is accounted for in a straightforward way. Analytical solutions are derived when the pullout load increases linearly in time. The process zone of activated material is generally divided into two or three domains along the axis of the fibre. Within these domains, slip in the sense implied by the load, slip in the opposite sense (reverse slip), and stick may be observed. The attainable combinations define three regimes of behavior, which are realized for different material parameter values. The elastodynamic problem is also solved more accurately using a plane stress finite element method, with friction represented by an interfacial cohesive zone. The predictions of the shear lag theory are broadly confirmed.     

Analytical study of the load transfer in fibre-reinforced 2D composite materials

The phenomenon of the load diffusion from a fibre to a surrounding matrix is analysed for the 2D case. We use an approximate analytical approach based on the asymptotic reduction of the governing biharmonic problem into two harmonic problems. The comparison of the obtained solutions with known results of other authors shows an acceptable accuracy of the proposed asymptotic simplifications. All solutions are obtained in closed analytical form.The case of perfect bonding between fibre and matrix for a single fibre and for a periodic system of fibres is firstly considered. Then we study the influence of the interface stiffness. In the case when only a single fibre is loaded, the influence of all other fibres is predicted by means of a three-phase model. The proposed approach gives a possibility to solve the problems for a broken fibre and for a broken matrix, as well as for partly debonded fibres. The important problem of infinite matrix cracks is also solved in the present paper.The obtained results can be used for the calculation of pull-out and push-out tests, as well as for the investigation of the fracture of composite materials.     

Toughness in obliquely-stressed fibrous composites

An earlier treatment of toughness for continuous, uniform, fibre reinforced materials given by M.R. Piggott (1970) is extended to the case where the stress is not parallel to the fibres. Experiments on pairs of fibres crossing cracks obliquely are used to reveal the effect on fibre strength of fibre flexure at the crack. The theory indicates that, so long as splitting parallel to the fibres does not occur, the fracture surface energy γ_φ for a material stressed at an angle φ to the fibres is given with sufficient accuracy for brittle fibres by the approximate formula γ_φ = γ_o(1?2.4A tan φ), where γ_o is the surface energy for fracture normal to the fibre direction, and A is a non-dimensional parameter depending on the force exerted by the matrix on the fibres, and involving, in particular, the ratio of matrix flow stress to the fibre ultimate tensile strength. For ductile fibres, the work of fracture increases with the angle φ at a rate depending on fibre breaking stress. The form of fracture surface and the onset of splitting are also discussed.     

Micromechanical analysis of polymer composites reinforced by unidirectional fibres: Part II – Micromechanical analyses

This paper presents the application of a new constitutive damage model for an epoxy matrix on micromechanical analyses of polymer composite materials. Different representative volume elements (RVEs) are developed with a random distribution of fibres. Upon application of periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) on the RVEs, different loading scenarios are applied and the mechanical response of the composite studied. Focus is given to the influence of the interface between fibre and matrix, as well as to the influence of the epoxy matrix, on the strength properties of the composite, damage initiation and propagation under different loading conditions.     

Numerical homogenization of cracking processes in thin fibre-epoxy layers

Discrete microscale fracture processes in thin fibre-epoxy layers are connected to a mesoscale traction-separation law through a numerical homogenization framework. The microscale fracture processes are studied with the finite element method, where cracking within the epoxy and debonding between fibres and epoxy is simulated by placing interface elements furnished with a mixed-mode interface damage model in between the continuum elements modelling the fibres and epoxy. It is demonstrated how the effective traction-separation response and the corresponding microscale fracture patterns under mesoscale tensile conditions depend on the sample size, the fibre volume fraction and the presence of imperfections.     

Elastic-plastic crack growth on plane strain bimaterial interface

Finite element computation are carried out to simulate plane strain crack growth on a bimaterial interface under the assumption of small scale yielding. The modified Gurson constitutive equation and the element vanish technique introduced by Tvergaard et al. are used to model the final formation of an open crack. It is found from the calculation that the critical fracture toughness for crack growth is much lower in bimaterials than that in homogeneous material. The critical fracture toughness is strongly dependent on material properties of the bimaterial pair and the mixed mode of remote loads. The interface crack grows in the more compliant (lower hardening) material or in the weaker (lower yield strength) material. In Mode-I loading, the crack grows zigzag along the interface. Project supported by Fok Ying-Tung Education Foundation and National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

A crack along the interface of a circular inclusion embedded in an infinite solid

The two-dimensional problem of an arc shaped crack lying along the interface of a circular elastic inclusion embedded in an infinite matrix with different elastic constants is considered. Based on the complex variable method of Muskhelishvili, closed-form solutions for the stresses and the displacements around the crack are obtained when general biaxial loads are applied at infinity. These solutions are then combined with A.A. Griffith's virtual work argument to give a criterion of crack extension, namely the de-bonding of the interface. The critical applied loads are expressed explicitly in terms of a function of the inclusion radius and the central angle subtended by the crack arc. In the case of simple tension the critical load is inversely proportional to the square-root of the inclusion radius. By analyzing the variation of the cleavage stress near the crack tip, the deviation of the crack into the matrix is discussed. The case of uniaxial tension is worked out in detail.     

Growth of an arc-crack in bonded dissimilar materials

The problem of growth of a crack lying along the interface of a circular inclusion embedded in an infinite plate is studied within the framework of linear elasticity. The plate is subjected to a uniform uniaxial stress at infinity at any angle of inclination relatively to the crack. The critical load for unstable crack growth, the angle of initial crack extension and the subsequent crack path are investigated using the strain energy density fracture criterion. The combined effect of crack length and orientation on the fracture stress is considered for the case of an aluminum-epoxy composite.     

Stress analysis of notched anisotropic finite plates under mechanical and hygrothermal loads

Summary Notch-induced stress concentrations in anisotropic composite materials depend on their directional material properties, especially for uniaxially reinforced composites with high-modulus fibres. The design of notched high-performance composites requires therefore a special proof of their notched strength, which includes the structural parameters of the fibre/matrix combination, fibre orientation and layer arrangement. The assessment of the effects of the finite outer boundary is of practical importance when dimensioning critical notched regions. An anisotropic plate with finite dimensions and a hole in its center will be used here to model stress concentrations. The calculation is based on conformal mappings combined with complex-valued stress functions. The outer boundary is described using point-matching and the least-squares method. The solutions are conducive to the assessment of the essential influencing factors of material properties, geometry and loads. Notched finite plates made of fibre/matrix composites, mainly carbon-fibre reinforced polymers, will be presented as illustrations. Received 29 June 1998; accepted for publication 22 October 1998