Abstract
Large-scale modelling of short-fibre metal-loaded composites is described. The aim was to establish the relationship between fibre aspect ratio (A) and the critical volume fraction (Vc ) at which conductivity via a percolation mechanism occurs. For typical geometries, Vc was found to be proportional to (I/A)1 · 5 for 50  A  500. This gave good agreement with a first-order theoretical model (which predicts a I/A dependence for Vc ) for 150  A  500.