FIBER AND INTERFACE STRENGTH DISTRIBUTION STUDIES WITH THE SINGLE-FIBER COMPOSITE TEST

Application of the single-fiber composite (sfc) tension test for fiber and interface strength determination is discussed. Fiber breaking and fiber/matrix debond propagation are modelled by Poisson processes. Fiber fragment length distribution as well as debond length dependency upon the applied stress are derived and their interrelation revealed. Acoustic emission monitoring of the sfc during a test is utilized to obtain the dependency of mean fragment length upon stress and consequently on the Weibull distribution shape and scale parameters. Excellent agreement with data obtained by notoriously complicated conventional fiber tests is observed.