Effective Elastic Properties of 3D Composites with Short Curvilinear Fibers: Numerical Simulation and Experimental Validation

Abstract

Theoretical and experimental estimation of elastic properties of two-phase composites containing matrix material and arc-shaped cylindrical fibers is given. Theoretical aspect consists in hybrid micro-macro formulation of problem with consideration of two associated subproblems –nume­rical simulation of fiber influence on the representative volume element and effective strain-stress field approximation by the averaging procedures. Boundary element method is applied for the solution of micro-level subproblem as well as Mori-Tanaka model is adopted for the overall description of composite properties at the macro-level. Then interfacial displacements are involved into solution scheme only. The effective elastic moduli of arc-fiber-reinforced composites are analyzed for the different materials combinations and fiber fractions. For the validation of numerical results, the prismatic concrete specimen filled by the curvilinear shaped cylindrical steel fibers under compression is investigated experimentally. Comparison of theoretical and experimental data is made.