Composite Materials

Tensile fracture

· When either the fibers or the matrix exceed their fracture stress, load is transferred to the other constituent of the composite.

· The response to load transfer will depend upon the strain at fracture for the matrix and the fibers, and the fiber volume fraction.
· For (a), the fracture strain of the fibers is greater than for the matrix. For (b), the fracture strain of the matrix is larger than that of the fibers.

From: Hull, "Introduction to Composite Materials," Cambridge (1992)