A statistical theory of the tensile strength of short-fiber-reinforced composites

This paper is concerned with the prediction of the tensile strength of short-fiber-reinforced composites by following the statistical theory of the strength of fiber bundles. Unidirectional, misaligned, and random-fiber directions are all treated. Depending on the fiber length, two failure modes can be distinguished. When the fiber length is smaller than 2Lc, where Lc is the critical transfer length, the composite should fail by direct fiber...