Effective Elastic Moduli of Ribbon-Reinforced Composites

Abstract

Based on the Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka theory the nine effective elastic constants of an orthotropic composite reinforced with monotonically aligned elliptic cylinders, and the five elastic moduli of a transversely isotropic composite reinforced with two-dimensional randomly-oriented elliptic cylinders, are derived. These moduli are given in terms of the cross-sectional aspect ratio and the volume fraction of the elliptic cylinders. When the aspect ratio approaches zero, the elliptic cylinders exist as thin ribbons, and these moduli are given in very simple, explicit forms as a function of volume fraction. It turns out that, in the transversely isotropic case, the effective elastic moduli of the composite coincide with Hill’s and Hashin’s upper bounds if ribbons are harder than the matrix, and coincide with their lower bounds if ribbons are softer. These results are in direct contrast to those of circular fibers. Since the width of the Hill-Hashin bounds can be very wide when the constituents have high modular ratios, this analysis suggests that the ribbon reinforcement is far more effective than the traditional fiber reinforcement.