Prediction of the macroscopic behavior of multi-layered elastic composites

Abstract

In this work, elastic fiber reinforced composite materials consisting of several layers are considered. Each layer is assumed to be a unidirectional fiber reinforced composite. The interface between layers is assumed to be perfect, which means the displacement and the traction through interfaces are continuous. To predict the overall behavior of the considered composite a two step homogenization procedure is considered. In the first step, effective properties of fiber reinforced layers are predicted based on the Mori-Tanaka micromechanical model and in the second one, a general matrix method is constructed to obtain the macroscopic properties of multi-layered composites. Analytical expressions of effective properties, for reinforced composites constituted with arbitrary N layers, are derived. The combination of the Mori-Tanaka method with the general matrix method allowed obtaining the effective properties of reinforced elastic multi-layered composites.