Plastic exfoliation of square-shaped fiber under shear load in the presence of interfacial cracks (Q2808447)

The authors consider the development of plastic deformations localized on the surface of a rigid fiber of square cross-section in a perfect elastoplastic matrix. Identical interfacial cracks start from two opposite ends of the fiber. The deformation is caused by a shear load parallel to the fiber diagonal connecting the cracks tips. It is shown that in the case when the length of the interfacial crack does not exceed a half of the fiber side length, the plastic deformations can be localized on the inclusion-matrix interface only. For the cracks shorter than a half of the fiber side length, the dependence of the length of plastic exfoliation strips on the load is determined. It is also shown that the plastic strips cannot cover the whole fiber surface along the crack extension.