Materials and Structure

The broken fibers carry some load because they are still bonded to the matrix and are loaded by the interfacial matrix-fiber shear stress. Pulling the de-bonded sections of the broken fibers out of the matrix contributes to the effective matrix flow stress and increases the material toughness.

The broken fibers carry some load because they are still bonded to the matrix and are loaded by the interfacial matrix-fiber shear stress. Pulling the de-bonded sections of the broken fibers out of the matrix contributes to the effective matrix flow stress and increases the material toughness.

From: van Vlack, "Elements of Materials Science & Engineering," Addison Wesley (1989)