Paper number 1359

FIBER (YARN)-MATRIX INTERFACIAL STRESS ANALYSIS BY USING THE HETEROGENEOUS ELEMENT METHOD

Youqi Wang and Chen Tao

Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506-5106, USA

Summary

In this paper a heterogeneous element, a new numerical tool, is developed for fiber-matrix interfacial stress analysis. There are several advantages gained using the heterogeneous element. First, a heterogeneous element can contain one or more kinds of materials with different moduli and other mechanical properties. Therefore, it is not necessary to match element boundaries to fiber-matrix interfaces. This turns mesh generation into a simple process. More important, the formulation of a heterogeneous element guarantees that both the equilibrium conditions and the continuity of displacement at the interface are satisfied. Yet, it allows for the stress and strain jump at the interface. Because the formulation reflects the actual physical situation at the interface, calculated interfacial stress becomes rapidly convergent to an accurate result as the element mesh becomes finer.

Keywords

interfacial stress, finite element analysis, heterogeneous materials, fibers, yarns, micro-mechanics, meso-mechanics.