INFLUENCE OF GEOMETRICAL FEATURES OF UNIDIRECTIONAL FIBROUS LAMINA ON ITS TRANSVERSE RESPONSES

Abstract eng:
Dimensional analysis is used in this study to establish general relations between geometric features of unidirectional fibrous lamina and the corresponding transverse responses, including transverse modulus and stress distribution in the matrix. Prediction of transverse response of unidirectional fibrous lamina was made long ago, e.g. the Halpin-Tsai equations. However, specific geometrical features of such composites are typically lumped into the volume fraction of fibers. Using micromechanics via explicit representation of fibers, it is demonstrated explicitly in this paper that the transverse response is dependent on two geometrical parameters, one is the usual fiber volume fraction, and the other is the ratio of fiber diameter to fiber spacing. A new formula for prediction of transverse response of the composite is established based on linear elastic finite element analysis. The new formula is validated via lab test data. The formula is extended to nonlinear analysis by integrating nonlinear matrix behavior in a separable way under certain restrictions. It is also demonstrated that the stress distribution in the matrix and the location of peak stress changes with the aforementioned ratio when fiber diameter and thickness are fixed. The effect of random fiber spacing is also investigated.

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