Crack Propagation and Bifurcation in Fiber-Composite Models-II: Hard-Soft-Hard Sequence of Phases

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Abstract
An experimental study of the influence of a soft-fiber inclusion and the mesophase layer surrounding it in a hard-soft-hard bi-phase representative volume element (RVE), on the fracture and bifurcation processes in both phases was undertaken. The influence of the mechanical properties of each phase and the effect of the external loading-rate on the crack propagation velocity and the initiation of the crack bifurcation was studied by using high speed photography and dynamic caustics. It was shown that the propagating crack tended to bifurcate either in the hard or in the mesophase layer, and the bifurcation of the crack depended strongly on the strain rate, the elastic modulus and the Poisson ratio of the phases, as well as on the extent of the mesophase layer, which relies upon the degree of adhesion between phases.

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