A virtual frame work for predication of effect of voids on transverse elasticity of a unidirectionally reinforced composite

Abstract This paper introduces a powerful computational technique to study micro-mechanics of composites, particularly, it examines effect of air voids in evaluation of the effective transverse elasticity properties of a unidirectionally reinforced composite. A computational Representative Area Element (RAE) simulation of patterned fibre and void arrangement is used to derive the effective transverse elasticity properties of a transversely isotropic composite. The computational estimates for the elastic constants are found to be in reasonable agreement with typical theoretical estimates for multiphase materials.

[1]  Jan Bäcklund,et al.  FRACTURE ANALYSIS OF NOTCHED COMPOSITES , 1981 .

[2]  E. Sideridis.  The transverse elastic modulus of fiber-reinforced composites as defined by the concept of interphase , 1993 .

[3]  G. W. Groves,et al.  The propagation of cracks in composites consisting of ductile wires in a brittle matrix , 1979 .

[4]  R. Hill.  A self-consistent mechanics of composite materials , 1965 .

[5]  M. Nehdi,et al.  Shear repair of RC beams using epoxy injection and hybrid external FRP , 2011 .

[6]  J. Afonso,et al.  Elastic properties of three-phase composites: analytical model based on the modified shear-lag model and the method of cells , 2005 .

[7]  A. Selvadurai.  On the Mode I stress intensity factor for an external circular crack with fibre bridging , 2010 .

[8]  A.P.S. Selvadurai,et al.  Transverse elasticity of a unidirectionally reinforced composite with an irregular fibre arrangement: Experiments, theory and computations , 2012 .

[9]  O. Ishai,et al.  The Elastic Properties of Three-Phase Composites , 1967 .

[10]  A.P.S. Selvadurai,et al.  Uniform Loading of a Cracked Layered Composite Plate: Experiments and Computational Modelling , 2012 .

[11]  C. Sun,et al.  Prediction of composite properties from a representative volume element , 1996 .

[12]  J. Whitney,et al.  Elastic properties of fiber reinforced composite materials. , 1966 .

[13]  Weiqiu Chen,et al.  Elasticity of transversely isotropic materials , 2006 .

[14]  A. Selvadurai.  Crack-bridging in a unidirectionally fibre-reinforced plate , 2010 .

[15]  A. Kelly,et al.  Tensile first cracking strain and strength of hybrid composites and laminates , 1980, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[16]  Moncef L. Nehdi,et al.  Genetic algorithm model for shear capacity of RC beams reinforced with externally bonded FRP , 2011 .

[17]  Z. Hashin,et al.  The Elastic Moduli of Fiber-Reinforced Materials , 1964 .

[18]  A. Selvadurai,et al.  Partial Differential Equations in Mechanics 2: The Biharmonic Equation, Poisson's Equation , 2000 .

[19]  John W. Hutchinson,et al.  Singular behaviour at the end of a tensile crack in a hardening material , 1968 .