Effects of Fiber Arrangements on Stress Distributions over the Transverse Cross Section of Unidirectionally Continuous Fiber-reinforced Composites

Stress distributions dependent on fiber arrangements are studied using the two-dimensional representative volume element (RVE) model for uni-directionally continuous fiber-reinforced composites subjected to transverse tensile loading. It is easily expected that the stresses around the fibers are concentrated mainly due to the stiffness mismatch between the fiber and matrix materials. In this presentation, it is shown that the stresses are not always increased although the distance between two fibers is shortened. The 2D RVE models, originally having a regular hexagonal fiber array, is utilized to study the effect of the fiber locations on the stress distributions. As the central fiber is relocated, the stress distributions around the fiber are obtained through finite element analysis. It is found that the stresses around the fiber are strongly dependent on the fiber distance as well as the angle between the loading direction and the line connecting two fibers.