THE ROLE OF INTERPHASE DEBONDING ON CUMULATIVE FIBER FRACTURES IN A CONTINUOUS FIBER-REINFORCED COMPOSITE

In continuous fibre-reinforced composites, individual fibre filaments can fracture at stresses less than 50% of the ultimate strength of the composite. A finite element analysis has been used to simulate the ef fects of different modes of crack propagation following the fracture o f a single filament on the subsequent failure of adjacent fibres. A st atistical analysis of the probability of failure at specific points al ong adjacent fibres was used to determine the most probable location o f subsequent failures. The analysis confirms previously published data showing that there is a high probability of a coordinated pattern of fibre fractures when fibre spacings are less than six fibre diameters.