Thermal Stress in a Coated Short Fibre Composite

Abstract

When a coated short fibre composite is subjected to temperature change, thermal stresses in and around the coated fibres are induced due to the mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients of the constituents, resulting in a possibility of cracking in the coating. The problem of the above thermal stresses in a coated short fibre composite is solved by using the Boussinesq-Sadowsky stress functions. The present results are compared with Eshelby’s solutions for an extreme case and good agreement between the two methods is obtained. A parametric study is then conducted to examine the effect of the geometry and thermo-mechanical properties of the coating on the stress field in and around a coated short fibre. It is found in this study that the stress field in the coating is sensitive to the properties and geometry of the coating.