Nondimensional simulation of influence of toughness of interface on tensile stress-strain behavior of unidirectional microcomposite

For description of the stress-strain curve, variation of Young's modulus wi th increasing applied strain and fracture morphology of composite, a nondim ensional shear lag method combined with a Monte Carlo simulation procedure was proposed, in which the statistics of the occurrence of damages such as breakage of components (fiber and matrix) and debonding of interface, mecha nical interactions among the damaged and undamaged portions and variation o f the geometry of location of the damages with increasing applied strain, a re incorporated. The proposed method was applied to microcomposite with different interfacia l toughness, and variations of the order and location of occurrence of dama ges, stress-strain curve and fracture morphology with varying interfacial t oughness were shown. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.