Strength of composite materials with small cracks in the matrix (Q1082145)

Often composite materials are designed primarily with the aim of improving the strength of the matrix material rather than achieving improvement of the stiffness. This is usually the case when the matrix is a low strength brittle type material. The strength of such a matrix material is usually governed by the initial flaws present in the material. These flaws or cracks can either be large or small compared to the microstructure of the composite material. In this paper ''small'' flaws are considered. Both the small flaws and the reinforcing particles are modelled by ellipsoidal inclusions and included in a composite material theory which is able to give an account of the interaction between the inclusions. In order to describe the strengthening effect of the reinforcing inclusions, the energy release rate for a representative penny-shaped matrix crack in the composite material is determined and compared to the energy release rate of the same crack present in the otherwise homogeneous matrix material.