Author(s)

M.R. Wisnom

Abstract

Modelling the effects of fibre waviness on compressive failure in unidirectional composites M.R. Wisnom University of Bristol, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Bristol, BS8 1TR, UK ABSTRACT Finite element modelling of shear instability due to fibre waviness is described. The effects of waviness geometry, non-uniform waviness and stress gradients are discussed. Initial results are also presented showing the effect of interaction between compressive and shear stresses on the angle at which a kink band forms. 1. INTRODUCTION The dominant failure mechanism in many carbon fibre composites is shear instability of the fibres in the surrounding matrix, commonly referred to as microbuckling. This is significantly influenced by fibre waviness and nonlinear material response, which analytical models can normally only treat in a simplified way. The present paper summarises recent work at Bristol University u

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