MICROMECHANICAL MODELING OF COMPOSITE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

Composite compressive failure is studied using a micromechanical (beam -on-elastic foundation) model, and the stiffness of the foundation is determined through an elasticity solution of the foundation model prob lem. An explicit expression has been derived for evaluation of composi te longitudinal compressive strengths (CLCS). It is found that this ex pression predicts relatively lower CLCS compared to classical models, and closely matches some experimental data for carbon fiber/epoxy comp osites. It is found that a complete matrix slippage will reduce the CL CS by over 50%.