Abstract
The present paper is concerned with the analysis of size effects of short fibre reinforced composites. The microstructure of such composites often represents the first hierarchy level of a bio-inspired material, and thus a linear elastic organic matrix material with strong but brittle ceramic fibres has been investigated.
For modelling the various failure mechanisms occurring in heterogeneous materials, i.e. fibre cracking, debonding between fibre and matrix material, and matrix cracking, the overall microstructure has been represented by a three-dimensional finite element model containing cohesive interfaces for all kinds of material separation. The constitutive behaviour of the cohesive zone model is thermodynamically consistent and based on a free energy potential,
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