Random inelastic behavior of composite materials with local load sharing

Abstract The response of a very long composite layer being stretched beyond the elastic limit in a displacement controlled experiment is investigated. It is assumed that the load carried by a fiber is transferred, at failure, to its two neighbors. This local load sharing rule is shown to lead to the propagation of the fiber breaking process and to be the source of random spatial variations in the loads carried by the fibers. Then, a set of evolution equations is derived that governs the spatial distribution of the random loads in three types of unbroken fibers. The complexity associated with the determination of the solution to these equations has led to a Monte Carlo study that suggested an approximate solution technique. It is shown that this simpler, approximate formulation represents very well the initial set of equations. Finally, it is shown that the local load sharing rule leads to a much higher probability of broken fibers and to higher loads carried by the fibers than a global load sharing predicts. It is shown however that the mean value of these loads is well approximated by the global load sharing rule except for the location of the peak which is largely overpredicted by the global load sharing model.