3D-Damage Model for Fiber-Reinforced Brittle Composites with Microcracks and Imperfect Interfaces

Abstract

A three-dimensional (3D) micromechanics-based evolutionary damage model is proposed to predict the effective elastic behavior of continuous fiber-reinforced brittle matrix composites with microcracks and imperfect interfaces. Eshelby’s tensor for a circular cylindrical inclusion with slightly weakened interface is adopted to model continuous fibers with imperfect interfaces. The nucleation of microcracks is simulated by employing the continuum damage model. A multilevel damage modeling process in accordance with Weibull’s probabilistic function is incorporated into the micromechanical framework to describe the sequential evolution of imperfect interfaces in the composites. Numerical examples corresponding to uniaxial loadings in the longitudinal and transverse directions are solved to illustrate the potential of the proposed damage model. Furthermore, the present prediction is compared with available experimental data in the literature to highlight the applicability of the proposed model.