ANALYSIS OF CONSOLIDATION OF REINFORCED MATERIALS BY POWER-LAW CREEP

Densification rates for porous reinforced creeping materials subjected to compressive stresses can be estimated by modelling the reinforcing phase as rigid and using an existing model for porous creeping materi als for the deforming phase. We present simple quantitative densificat ion rate estimates for porous power-law creeping materials with aligne d fiber reinforcing. The depression of the densification rates by the aligned fibers is a strong increasing function of the asymmetry of the loads applied transverse to the fiber direction.