Effects of interfacial debonding on the transverse loading behaviour of continuous fibre-reinforced metal matrix composites

The current study aims at investigating two issues seriously affecting the transverse loading behaviour of unidirectionally fibre-reinforced metal mat rix composites: (1) the effect of thermally induced residual stresses due t o a cooling down from processing temperature and (2) the interaction betwee n inelastic matrix deformation and interfacial debonding at the fibre-matri x interface. The unit cell method in combination with the nonlinear finite element technique enhanced by a sophisticated viscoplastic material model a nd a cohesive zone model for the interface is employed to investigate these influences. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.