Instability of an Ideally Fiber-reinforced Elastic Strip under Tension

Abstract

The instability problem stated in the title is analyzed on the basis of Biot's mechanics of incremental deformations. The strip is reinforced by inextensible fibers in the direction of its width. In the course of the analysis, the matrix of the reinforced strip was specified as the socalled Blatz-Ko rubber, solid or foam. It was found that the strip of solid rubber never buckled under tension, while the one of foam rubber became unstable even under tension. There exist two types of buckling for the foam rubber : shear and internal buckling. However, the latter does not manifest itself physically, since the former always occurs first. The whole buckling aspect of the strip is similar to that of a slab in the plane-strain state.