Poisson's stresses in fibre composites. I: Analysis

Abstract

Two methods have been used to evaluate the transverse stresses when an aligned fibre composite is stressed in the fibre direction. A single fibre model is shown to overestimate the stresses at the fibre-matrix interface by about 20 per cent compared with a finite element solution for an infinite array of fibres. Using relatively few fibres in the finite element analysis, however, only gives very approximate stress distributions. With fibre volume fractions in the range 0-0.50 the average radial stresses across the fibre-matrix interface are always compressive, and can be represented by a relatively simple formula with an accuracy which is normally with in a few percent of the finite element value.