EFFECT OF SPECIMEN SIZE ON STRENGTH RELIABILITY OF FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITE

Abstract: A tensile test was carried out for continuous SiC fiber reinforced aluminum matrix composites (SiC/Al), which have different specimen width and length. A Monte Carlo simulation using finite element method was also performed with changing the width and length of composite model. The size effect of strength reliability was examined and discussed. The results showed that composite strength does not appear to have a large change but its reliability is improved with increasing in width of the composite specimen. Also, the composite strength decreases, but Weibull shape parameter has an increase tendency with increasing the gauge length. Effect of specimen width and length on composite strength and its reliability is dependent on the both factors, that is, the incidence of accumulating fracture process, the mean fiber strength and the strength scatter of weaker fibers. The accumulation of the fracture process is related to the fiber stress distribution in the composite. Key words: fiber reinforced metal, SiC/Al composite, tensile test, Monte Carlo simulation, specimen width, gauge length, strength reliability, size effect