A generalized self-consistent method accounting for fiber section shape

A three-phase confocal elliptical cylinder model is proposed for fiber-reinforced composites, in terms of which a generalized self-consistent method is developed for fiber-reinforced composites accounting for variations in fiber section shapes and randomness in fiber section orientation. The reasonableness of the fiber distribution function in the present model is shown. The dilute, self-consistent, differential and Mori-Tanaka methods are also extended to consider randomness in fiber section orientation in a statistical sense. A full comparison is made between various micromechanics methods and with the Hashin and Shtrikman's bounds. The present method provides convergent and reasonable results for a full range of variations in fiber section shapes (from circular fibers to ribbons), for a complete spectrum of the fiber volume fraction (from 0 to 1, and the latter limit shows the correct asymptotic behavior in the fully packed case) and for extreme types of the inclusion phases (from voids to rigid inclusions). A very different dependence of the five effective moduli on fiber section shapes is theoretically predicted, and it provides a reasonable explanation on the poor correlation between previous theory and experiment in the case of longitudinal shear modulus.

Dynamic Effective Properties of Particle-Reinforced Composites with Viscoelastic Matrix

The frequency-dependent dynamic effective properties of the particle-reinforced composites with the viscoelastic matrix are studied. Several equations to predict the effective wavenumber of the coherent plane waves propagating through particle-reinforced

Micromechanics analysis of particulate-reinforced composites and their failure mechanisms

Stress fields and failure mechanisms have been investigated in composites with particles either surface treated or untreated under uniaxial tension. Previous experimental observation of failure mechanisms in a composite with untreated particles showed that tensile cracks occurred mostly at the polar region of the particle and grew into interfacial debonding. In a composite with surface-treated particles, however, shear yielding and shear cracking proceeded along the interphase-matrix interface at the polar area of the matrix and thus may improve the mechanical behaviour of the material. The finite element calculations showed that octahedral shear stress at the polar and longitudinal areas of the particle treated by coupling agents is much larger than that of materials with untreated particles, and the shear stress distribution around the interface is sensitive to the interphase property. The results suggest that a th ree-phase model can describe the composites with surface-treated fillers.

Experimental relaxation behavior of chopped-strand mat glass-fiber reinforced polyester beams in 3 point bending

A dimensionless relation of the form for collating fatigue crack starting growth data is proposed in which Δkth represents the stress intensity factor range at the threshold. Based on experimental results, this relation attains the value of 0.6 for a fatigue crack to start growth in the Austenitic stainless steel investigated in this work. Metallurgical examinations were also carried out to show a transgranular shear mode of cyclic cleavage and plastic shear.

Static and fatigue failure behavior of carbon-fiber reinforced epoxy composite-materials with edge notch

A study of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite material with 0° ply or ±45°ply(unnotched or with edge notch) was carried out under static tensile and tension-tensioncyclic loading testing. Static and fatigue behaviour and damage failure modes in unnotched/notched specimens plied in different manners were analysed and compared with each other.A variety of techniques (acoustic emission, two types of strain extensometer, high speed pho-tography, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope, etc.) were used to examine thedamage of the laminates. Experimental results show that when these carbon/epoxy laminateswith edge notch normal to the direction of the load are axially loaded in static or fatiguetension, the crack does not propagate along the length of notch but is in the interface (fiberdirection). The notch has no substantial effect on the stresses at the unnotched portion. Thedamage failure mechanism is discussed.

Optimization study of the structural HACFRA composition (Self Compacting Concrete Steel Fiber Reinforced)

The interest of HACFRA (self compacting concrete reinforced with steel fibers), is the combination of the residual strength increase and cracking decrease compared to plain concrete by the introduction of steel fibers in the mass with the advantages of the self-compacting. The paper presents an analysis of the influence of different components of the HACRFA and provides their selection, refered to the granular skeleton and to different steel fiber types and amount, in order to obtain an optimization of its features and structural behavior.

Precracked reinforced concrete T-Beams repaired in shear with bonded carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer sheets

This study investigates the structural behavior of precracked reinforced concrete (RC) T-beams strengthened in shear with externally bonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. It reports on seven tests on unstrengthened and strengthened RC T-beams, identifying the influence of load history, beam depth, and percentage of longitudinal steel reinforcement on the structural behavior. The experimental results indicate that the contributions of the external CFRP sheets to the shear force capacity can be significant and depend on most of the investigated variables. This study also investigates the accuracy of the prediction of the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) contribution in ACI 440.2R-08, UK Concrete Society TR55, and fib Bulletin 14 design guidelines for shear strengthening. A comparison of predicted values with experimental results indicates that the guidelines can overestimate the shear contribution of the externally bonded FRP system. © 2012, American Concrete Institute.