ANALYSIS OF FRAGMENTATION IN THE SINGLE FILAMENT COMPOSITE - ROLES OFFIBER STRENGTH DISTRIBUTIONS AND EXCLUSION ZONE MODELS

Exact equations are derived governing the evolution of fragments in a long fiber loaded according to the ''single Nament composite test.'' T hese equations are derived with no a priori assumptions regarding the distribution for fiber strength except that the distribution of fiber flaws along the length follows a compound Poisson process in terms of flaw strength. Furthermore, the interface model and the fiber stress p rofile in the exclusion zone around a fiber break can be arbitrary as long as the exclusion zone is well defined. Explicit and exact closed- form solutions of the governing equations are obtained under these gen eral conditions including random initial breaks before load is applied , which have exponentially distributed spacings of a given normalized rate a along the fiber. We demonstrate this method by finding the exac t closed-form solution for a bilinear stress interface model proposed earlier. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.