A Review of Plasticity Theory of Fibrous Composite Materials

Continuum modeling of the elastic-plastic behavior of fibrous composites is concerned with predictions of the macroscopic behavior of a composite aggregate, which consists of an elastic-plastic metal matrix reinforced by unidirectionally aligned elastic fibers. Mechanical properties and volume fractions of the phases are assumed to be known; the objective is to predict the overall response of the composite under incrementally applied uniform macroscopic stresses or strains in terms of the phase properties, and of the geometry of the microstructure. This paper reviews some recent solutions of this problem. Those include micromechanical models that derive the overall response from uniform local fields, and also models that approximate the actual non-uniform local fields and arrive at upper and lower bound solutions. Recent experimental results pertaining to plastic behavior of fibrous composite materials are also discussed.