Study on the effects of breakage of single fiber on creep behavior of fiber reinforced composites

A 3-D micro cell model with multi-fibers has been presented to study the effects of breakage of single fiber on the whole creep behavior of fiber reinforced composites by finite element method (FEM). Before the fiber breakage, the stresses of all fibers an identical. With the creep time increasing, stress in fiber increases but stress in matrix decreases. It is assumed that the fiber breakage occurs when the stress in fiber reaches a critical value. The stress redistribution resulted from the breakage of fiber has been obtained. The influence on the axial stress of the broken fiber is local. The stress in the all fiber sections is not uniform. There is a local stress concentration in the matrix. And this stress concentration in the matrix is more and more serious with the creep deformation. The stress transference of the loading due to the fiber breakage has been studies numerically. It is found that the fibers near to the broken fiber mil take over more loading.