Fiber fracture in the absence of bending during MMC processing

Fiber fragmentation during hot pressing of metal matrix composites has been examined for the case where the matrix flows along the die cavity. In this case, fiber fracture occurs due to load transfer from the deforming matrix onto the fibers. Fiber bending is not a necessary condition. A shear lag model is developed to predict fragmented fiber lengths, which are comparable to observed lengths of fragmented sapphire fibers hot pressed in a niobium matrix.