The Effect of Pre-stresses and Microstructural Morphology on the Overall Mechanical Properties of Composites
Abstract
This work is aimed at understanding the effect of pre-stressing the constituents of composites with a view towards enhancing the overall load carrying capacity of the composites and studying the effect of microstructural morphology on the overall mechanical performance of composites through the use of proper constitutive models for each constituent. The ultimate goal is to carry out a novel theoretical and computational study that assesses the overall performance of composites due to pre-stressing, at the microscopic level, one or more of the components of a composite with a view towards the design and development of such bodies. We conducted two-dimensional and three-dimensional studies on composite systems comprising of a) brittle inclusions (glass, ceramics) in a ductile matrix (metals, polymers) and b) ductile inclusions in a brittle matrix, and we considered both elastic and viscoelastic response of the constituents. The results suggest that by applying compressive prestress on brittle inclusions, we can expect an increase in load carrying capacity of the structure undergoing externally tensile loads. Also, by prestressing the inclusions, the hoop stress difference at the interface changes in a manner that is of great value when debonding is the main concern.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA600956
Entities
People
- Anastasia Muliana
- K. R. Rajagopal
Organizations
- Texas Engineering Experiment Station