NONLINEAR BEHAVIORS OF THICK COMPOSITES WITH FIBER WAVINESS UNDER PURE BENDING

Abstract

The effects of fiber waviness on the nonlinear behavior of unidirectional composites under pure bending were studied theoretically and experimentally. Constitutive models were proposed for the predictions of the flexural properties and nonlinear behavior of composites with fiber waviness. Three types of wavy patterns (uniform, graded and localized fiber waviness) were considered. The material nonlinearity and geometrical nonlinearity due to fiber waviness were incorporated into the analyses. Specimens with various degrees of fiber waviness were fabricated. Bending tests were conducted to compare the experimental results with the predictions for the uniform fiber waviness model. It was found that the experimental results were in good agreement with the predictions.