Numerical analysis of fiber fragmentation in a SiC/Al single-fiber composite specimen

In this paper, a numerical analysis by the finite-element method was carried out to simulate the fiber-fragmentation process in a single-fiber composite (SFC) specimen. The objective is to understand the fiber-fracture process and the way in which this process is affected by the fiber/matrix interface properties. In the analysis, the fiber strength is described by a Weibull distribution, the aluminum matrix is assumed to be elastic/plastic with a linear hardening law, and the fiber/matrix interface is modeled by an elastic/perfectly-plastic spring layer. In addition to the stress and strain distributions in the SFC, the evolution of fiber fractures and the stress/strain curves under monotonic loading were obtained through a sequence of finite-element computations with decreasing size of unit cell. The results indicate that the saturation length of the fiber fragments is very sensitive to the fiber/matrix interfacial strength. Therefore, it might be used as an indicator to measure the in situ fiber/matrix interfacial bond strength.