Fibers cluster characterization in failure process of composite materials

Abstract

This paper is target to investigate numerically failure process in composite materials by studying intact fiber monomer density and mean elongation fibers versus different parameters: applied load, temperature and matrix - fibers interaction. Hence, our research is realized in the framework of fiber bundle models (FBM) by considering the local load sharing mode (LLS). The obtained results show that the intact fiber monomer density increases with time to reach a maximum value at cross-over time, and then it decreases to zero value when the material fails totally. However, the maximal value of the intact fiber monomer density exhibits two opposite behavior for low and height applied load regimes. It increases in the first regime, but it decreases in the second one. This result shows that in the first regime, the crack is affected only to small cluster fibers with discontinued process, but in the second one, the crack is affected to big cluster fibers with continued process. The cross-over time corresponding to the above maximal value, increases with the load in the low regime applied load, but it decreases in the height applied load one. However, this cross-over time decreases with temperature with two different profiles and increases exponentially with the matrix-fibers interaction. In the additional, the mean elongation fiber presents two different stages. In the first one, at earlier time, it increases until reaching a maximal value, and then it decreases at an intermediate stage when the fibers sustain a self-organization criticality. Finally it continues to increase until a final crack stage. Moreover, the intermediate stage duration decreases with two different profiles versus both applied load and temperature system. But, it increases exponentially with the increasing matrix-fibers interaction.