Abstract
This paper deals with a method for representing the distribution of fiber orientation in fiber reinforced composites. It is well known that the mechanical properties of fiber composites depend on the elastic properties and volume fraction of the constituent materials, and are affected by the fabrication processing. In particular, the fiber orientation and content can be strongly influenced by the material flow in molding. Therefore, a knowledge of the fiber orientation distribution is a requirement for predicting the mechanical behavior of the fiber composites. In this paper, the fiber orientation density function using an incomplete beta function is proposed in order to express the distribution of fiber orientation for the fiber composite, and the mold flow of fibers in SMC laminates is discussed by the proposed formulation. It is clear that various distributions of fiber orientation can be expresssd by selecting proper paramater values.
