Paper number 321

ON THE USE AND LIMITATIONS OF CONCENTRIC CYLINDER MODELS FOR POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES

Edgard Jacobs^*, Ignaas Verpoest^*, Janis Varna^**

*Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,
de Croylaan 2, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
**Department of Materials and Production Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, S-95187 Lulea, Sweden

Summary

Models to calculate the stiffness matrix of a unidirectional composite involve often the use of a concentric cylinder as unit cell. In this paper, an existing concentric cylinder model of Pagano&Tandon has been extended, by applying the Mori-Tanaka and generalised self-consistent scheme theories to this basic model. The aim is to improve the stiffness prediction for three phase composite systems. It will also be pointed out that, although improvements in stiffness prediction can be achieved, the use of these concentric cylinder models for local stress state analysis in polymer matrix composites is rather questionable.

Keywords

concentric cylinder models, stiffness matrix predictions, local stress state.