G. P. Tandon, AdTech Systems Research, Inc.

ABSTRACT

The present work is concerned with the theoretical study of the elastic properties of unidirectional fiber composites. The approach to calculate the effective moduli of composite materials is generally based upon the premise of a representative volume element, or an element in which the strain and stress averages taken over large enough subregions of the specimen are the same for any such subregion. For purposes of computation, some model of a fiber composite must be assumed. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that the composite cylinder model can provide a good simulation for the representative volume element to define the response of a unidirectional composite for a wide range of elastic moduli and volume fraction provided the displacements are prescribed on the external surfaces. Results of the effective elastic moduli and micro-stresses within the constituents are compared with existing numerical solutions, both with and without partial interphase failure, to demonstrate the effectiveness of composite cylinder model to simulate composite behavior.

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