Microbuckle initiation from a patch of large amplitude fibre waviness in a composite under compression and bending (Q5929798)

The authors use a finite element couple stress formulation to predict microbuckle initiation from a patch of fibre waviness in a unidirectional fibre composite under remote compression and bending. The main attention is paid to the knock-down in strength due to large amplitude waviness, with the effect of physical size of imperfections included by incorporating the fibre bending resistance. It is found that the compressive strength is sensitive to the magnitude of imposed stress gradient: the compressive strength of outer fibres of the beam in bending increases with diminishing the height of the beam.