Steady‐State and Multiple Cracking of Short Random Fiber Composites

This paper analyzes the pseudostrain‐hardening phenomenon of brittle matrix composites reinforced with discontinuous flexible and randomly distributed fibers, based on a cohesive crack‐mechanics approach. The first crack strength and strain are derived in terms of fiber, matrix, and interface micromechanical properties. Conditions for steady‐state cracking and multiple cracking are found to depend on two nondimensionalized parameters that embody all relevant material micromechanical parameters. The results are therefore quite general and applicable to a variety of composite‐material systems. Phrased in terms of a failure‐mechanism map, various uniaxial load‐deformation behaviors for discontinuous fiber composites can be predicted. The influence of a snubbing effect due to local fiber/matrix interaction for randomly oriented crack‐bridging fibers on the composite properties is also studied.