Continuous Parallel Fiber Composites: Fracture

Published

January 1, 2001

Author(s)

B S. Majumdar, Donald L. Hunston

Abstract

The objective in this chapter is to briefly review the fracture behavior of unidirectional composites with special attention to mechanisms that have been developed to improve toughness. The focus is on failure involving the propagation of cracks for preexisting flaws and defects, but many of the conclusions are also applicable to failure by damage growth since the same basic mechanisms are often involved in crack propagation and damage initiation and growth. The paper considers metal, ceramic, and polymer based composites and finds important common features for all three materials. The interplay of the various toughening mechanisms is explored and important trade-offs are identified. Models are presented to illustrate how the behavior can be predicted.

Citation

Encyclopedia of Materials: Science & Technology

Volume

34(7)

Pub Type

Encyclopedias

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Keywords

ceramic matrix composites, damage, deformation, failure mechanisms, fiber, fracture, metal matrix composites, plasticity, polymer matrix composites

Citation

Majumdar, B. and Hunston, D. (2001), Continuous Parallel Fiber Composites: Fracture, Encyclopedia of Materials: Science & Technology, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=851804 (Accessed October 11, 2025)