Failure of fibrous composites: Elastic and time-dependent stress analyses, Monte Carlo simulation, and probability modeling
Many next generation, structural composites are likely to be engineered from stiff fibers embedded in ceramic, metallic, or polymeric matrices. Ironically, complexity in composite failure response, rendering them superior to traditional materials, also makes them difficult to characterize for high reliability design. Challenges lie in modeling the interacting, randomly evolving micromechanical damage, such as fiber break nucleation and coalescence, and in the fact that strength, lifetime, and failure mode vary substantially between otherwise identical specimens. My thesis research involves developing (i) computational, micromechanical stress transfer models around multiple fiber breaks in fiber composites, (ii) Monte Carlo simulation models to reproduce their failure process, and (iii) interpretative probability models
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 1997