Mechanics of Elastic Stress Transfer

Abstract

At the beginning of the loading regime—when the DFRC is subjected to low applied loads—the response of the DFRC to the applied load is regulated by the elastic stress transfer mechanism. As the load increases, eventually the DFRC undergoes a transition from the elastic stress transfer stage to the plastic stress transfer stage. During the transition, the DFRC may experience one or more of the following modes of failure, matrix yielding, fibre–matrix interfacial delamination and matrix cracking. Thereafter, the response of the DFRC to the applied load is dominated by the plastic stress transfer mechanism. During the process of plastic stress transfer, the matrix exhibits plastic deformation in response to the external load and shear sliding occurs along the fibre–matrix interface because of the disruption to the adhesion at the fibre–matrix interface. The purpose of this chapter is to indicate how the theory of plastic stress transfer is used to investigate the stress uptake in the fibre and how the plastic stress transfer stage leads to plastic deformation in the fibre at high loads, thus turning the DFRC into a plastic state.