Discontinuous-Fibre Reinforced Composites (eBook)

This book provides a simple and unified approach to the mechanics of discontinuous-fibre reinforced composites, and introduces readers as generally as possible to the key concepts regarding the mechanics of elastic stress transfer, intermediate modes of stress transfer, plastic stress transfer, fibre pull-out, fibre fragmentation and matrix rupture. These concepts are subsequently applied to progressive stages of the loading process, through to the composite fractures. 

The book offers a valuable guide for advanced undergraduate and graduate students attending lecture courses on fibre composites. It is also intended for beginning researchers who wish to develop deeper insights into how discontinuous fibre provides reinforcement to composites, and for engineers, particularly those who wish to apply the concepts presented here to design and develop discontinuous-fibre reinforced composites.

Kheng Lim Goh's main interests concern the mechanisms of fibre reinforced composites and their applications in composite materials design. He was an assistant professor of Bioengineering at the Nanyang Technological University from 2005 to 2008 and a senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Monash University from 2009 to 2011. He is currently a senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering (Design and Manufacturing) at Newcastle University in Newcastle Upon Tyne (based in Singapore). At Newcastle University, he was the first Director of Operations (2011-2016) for the Mechanical Engineering degree programme. He is a member of the Institute of Physics (MInstP) and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (MIMechE) and a chartered engineer (CEng), registered with the Engineering Council in UK, as well as a chartered physicist (CPhys). He is the lead author and co-author of more than 50 journal papers and book chapters, mostly in the area of fibre composites.

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Reinforcement of materials by fibres with high tensile stiffness and strength allows the production of composite materials of high strength and toughness. Understanding the basic principles underlying this ability for reinforcement is critical to achieving desired properties in engineering fibre composite materials. In recent decades, technological advancements have enabled the structural properties of fibre composites to be investigated at different length scales, providing new insights. These investigations involved computer modelling using techniques such as finite element analysis and molecular mechanics, and relating micro and nanoscopic structures (derived from tools such as electron and atomic force microscopes) with mechanical properties derived from stress and strain measurements (using techniques such as Raman microscopy and x-rays from synchrotron sources). Nanotechnology has enabled the fabrication of nanometre fibres to yield greater composite strength and toughness.Fundamentals of Stress Transfer in Short-fibre Reinforcing Composites provides a survey of the concepts of fibre reinforced composites. These concepts are based on insights gained from current studies of short fibre reinforcement in composite materials. The concepts deal with the mechanisms of stress transfer and are explained as part of a general theory for understanding how fibres reinforce composites at different stages of the loading regime from initial loading up to composite rupture. In a fibrous composite the two components could fail at different strains when the load on the composite increases. The mechanisms of the transfer of stress between fibre and matrix are discussed by addressing the different loading regimes of the stress-strain curve from initial loading to rupture. Mechanisms of stress transfer are crucial for understanding:how the matrix and the fibre respond elastically to the external load (shear-lag analysis);how the interface regulates stress transfer;how intermediate modes of failure, e.g. matrix cracking, interfacial bond failure, fibre rupture, could occur;how the matrix shear-slides over fibres (shear-sliding analysis);how fibre pull-out occurs; andhow fibre fragmentation occurs.The reader, having grasped the general theory, should then be able to apply it to solving problems concerning the engineering of fibre composite materials. This makes Fundamentals of Stress Transfer in Short-fibre Reinforcing Composites a useful guide for students, researchers and engineers interested in fibre composites.